My reflection on this course is the following. We are catalogued as digital immigrants. When we where born we didn't have computers (at least not personal computers), we didn't even have cellphones. Some of us where already teenagers when technology started to show up in our lives and some where already working as teachers when this started. Technology hasn't been growing slowly, but in an exponential rate that sometimes can be overwhelming to think about.
In my case, it's my line of work and I really like technology and I try to understand it as much as possible, but I was very happy to see during our class with Adam that a lot of people who had been having a lot of trouble with technology before, where feeling more and more comfortable with it. I have been teaching a course on blogs for two years now at school where some people from our class has taken the course twice and didn't get to the point they got during that week! Of course, the course @ school is always very limited in time and during this week everyone got to have a whole week to work on something that was very important or interesting to them. The greatest lesson: you're not going to break the computer if you click on everything to figure out how to do different things.
I had a lot of fun in this class and I hope we can all keep in touch. Thanks for the great week and I will miss you all a lot.
I wanted to participate on this blog as a contribution to this class, as a teacher technology has been a great help in my classes as a matter of fact part of our action research includes a part where we compare and contrast our practice before and after using technology and let me say it has been a huge difference and now we include technology on a daily basis in our classes. Changing the subject a little bit let me thank you for the support and patience, my mother is doing much better and hopefully soon she will add her comments as well......hope to see you some other time.
Since the beginning of the course, I thought it will be very fun to learn new things about technology. I was scared when we decided to do do a blog, because I had never done this, but I knew everything was going to be ok because we had Adam's and peer's help.
I really liked our final project because trying out every single option, we created a very cool blog for our student's and parents. I was amazed when we were able to add twitter comments to it and to realize how easy it was.
I also enjoyed to see what my peers made. I learned a little bit about all the different projects they made. After looking at them, I wanted to learn to do all those things and I fell in love with macs and now I have my own and I can't wait to start doing many different things with it :)
Thank you for everything Adam. I hope you had a wonderful time here at Monterrey and that you enjoyed those delicious "chilaquiles" :)
I was really happy in this tech course. I had the opportunity to try out new things such as the mac notebook and the i pad. It was wonderful having this type of course because it allowed you tofreely explore this tools and focus on what ever was important or interestiong for each of us. I felt really proud of my self when I saw the outcomes. I think that it would have been great to have written down the steps that I went through to do each of my creations in order to go over them later on when using them again. It would also be useful to keep on using this gadgets in order to remember how to do the things I learned. If I stop practicing I'll just forget everything!!
Thank you Adam for sharing with us, for being so patient and for sharing your passion with us. I really loved the video of the orchestra from Venezulea, it was very inspiring. I hope you enjoyed our city and our food. Thanks again for everything!!
I think it was wonderful that our last Master's course was a technology one. I don't know if it was planned that way or if it was a coincidence. Whatever it was, it was very useful, at least for me, to have this class now because of all the technology we are now using in our lives and in the classroom and because we could learn many different things to use in our upcoming Capstone Presentation.
My team and I decided to learn how to further use iMovie and to create a small video that we will use in the Capstone Presentation. We learned other useful things as well, such as: use twitter, create blogs and wikis.
Now that it's almost back to school day, I'm starting to create a blog that I can use with my students and with their parents.
The technology course was extremely useful for me, and I loved the way it was taught. It was taught the way we are supposed to teach our students, with freedom to explore, instead of dictating them step by step what they need to do. For this course, I think the teaching method you chose was the best one you could choose.
Thank you Adam for everything and I hope to see you again soon.
Hi!!!! I really enjoyed this course. I loved how people did some projects in photoshop! I am also trying to use this new tool! I am having some trouble, but everyday I find something new. I would really like to master this tool! I know I will someday! I had a great time during the week. THANKS!!!!
I wanted to use my Master's videos to do some recording on them and editing with music . Somehow I couldn't find the way to have my Imovie into being A NEW PROJECT. So I started a blog, I got desperate because I was spending a lot of time and somehow I didn't feel satisfied. Then I remember reading in the Ascd reports about a KIDBLOG. So I created a blog with a 3 students, and made two blogs with videos. I didn't take too much time and was easy to work with. http://kidblog.org/MATH9TH/
I went back trying to edit my Master's video and I Can !!!!!podcast and now I can record my voice I just need to also edit with music on the background. For some of my peers this might seem easy to do, but for me, it has been a lot of time investing on trying and trying. I will not give up until I get what I want.
I also open a twitter and I am going to the people who are following me as well as the ones I chose to follow, dgarcia_dora is my twitter.
I made a blogspot, though I am still having problems with the templates and the gadgets.
I will not give up on this though. I am planning to place all the photos of the generations we have had.
A friend of mine told me three years ago that if I was not going to try new things in technology then I was going to get older than what I actually am. That hurt A LOT!
On Monday afternoon I talked over the phone with my husband. I shared with him some of the new things going on with technology at schools. He was just concerned! I was confused since I believe all these changes have a positive impact in education. I thought he was also going to be impressed. But later I learned why. My husband often teaches at IPADE Business School and he told me that these kids will be his students in 10 years! He felt scared because he doesn´t know what these kids will be able to do and how he is going to teach them...
This technology course has taught me several things. On one hand I have learned how to do a blog, how to use twitter and google docs. On the other, I have learned and reflected over my teaching practice.
I thought making a blog was going to be very easy. I found it is easy but there is so much to it. There are a lot of things you can add and change every time. So it takes a while to get used to it. I felt very happy being able to do it. Now I am starting a blog to share some thoughts about my teaching practice and one for my baby. Since I leave far from my family and friends I believe it is a good way to share pictures and videos as he grows. I even want my husband to have a blog for his students so I will help him get started.
I think this technology course gave me a lifetime lesson. Just when I felt I was starting to understand how to add and modify things to my blog Adam told us Blogger was going to be modified in December. At that moment I thought it was useless to learn how to use Blogger if everything was going to change in just a few months. But then Adam gave us an advice. He mentioned that we have to be constantly learning and willing to learn with our kids and from them. We can´t wait to be the experts at something because by the time we master it, it is going to be different! This very wise advice made me reflect not only on the technology skills I am learning but also on my personal life. I usually want to feel I master something in order to feel comfortable to teach it and share it with others. I am constantly hard at myself and sometimes I just work, work and work. By the time I notice I am worn out… So with this course I take with me a personal goal to be less hard on myself. To learn how to learn with others, specially with my students. Thanks Adam for those very useful thoughts…
It all started as a WHAAAAT????? week; and it ended as a WOW!!!! week. At the beginning (and sometimes during the week) I was not quite sure if I knew where I was going. I wasn't sure either if I was accomplishing something. I was sure that time was flying fast and also that I was diving into new waters. The feeling of accomplishment was great by the end of the week when I went into my finished blog and liked what I had done. This blog is something that I want to implement this school year (let's see...). I still think that practice makes mastery, so I still need to play and test on it. The good thing is that I don't feel afraid anymore of messing it all. (just a little ha!)
I liked to be in a class where I was able to choose the path that I wanted to take. I faced several obstacles in photo shop mainly, but I had a great team which supported me and helped me get where I wanted to be. So I realized how learning can be meaningful if you are able to make choices, work with others and solve problems during your journey.
I was a little disappointed when I showed the pictures I fixed in photoshop to my kids at home. And they said:"Come on! You learned to do this? It's so easy". Well, I guess my learning about photoshop has just begun; I need to keep working on it and surprise them some how!
Thanks for a fun and productive week
Good luck
Marcela
I worked during the class with two computers and I realized about this at the last day during my presentation. I wish I had Photoshop in my Mac Book. I enjoyed the class very much. I learned many new things and at the same time I had a lot of fun. I didn’t want to have a twitter account at first. I keep forgetting my passwords, so for me it was a totally new password. But I could see during class that Twitter is very useful and liked how our postings in twitter appeared at our Blog with the Hash tags. Loved this new word for me: Hash tags. I’m glad I didn’t have to use the Delicious page because I forgot the password. My new homework is to find where I wrote it and in which computer, maybe it can be at the computer that I use in my office. I want to thank Adam for helping me find out my Mac Book password so I could fix it. Jaja!!! I have to say that I had a lot of fun in this Last Class, the best and last class. I will miss you all.
Adam thanks for your Recaps of every day. I came back to my house to read them and to see all the videos you posted. It’s easier and better to listen to the videos without noise and you can pay more attention to them if you are more relaxed. Loved the music too!
During the course we worked by the constructivist way of learning. I was really engaged because I worked for my own interest, I had time to explore and discover things by myself. I realized that my big challenge is to teach my students to try to do things without being afraid to do something wrong, so they can be problem solvers and develop skills for the future.
I loved working in our own projects because I figure out how to edit videos and also I learned lots from my classmates. The way we exposed (moving around the classroom from one place to another) made me feel comfortable.
I will take advantage of this technology course by making for example a magazine of the students’ interests, projects, etc. I can upload kids’ pictures and it also works for documentation.
I wanted to sharesome projects that I did in this class.
1. This video I made for my mother for her 32th wedding anniversary. What I did in here was to find pictures , mopst of them were faded and scan them. After that I tried my best to use Photoshop to make them the best I could. Also I made several presentations and they put them all together to make the video
My mom
2. This video I made it for my students and send it by email. After I gathered several pictures of them through out the school year and of a project they worked with I made this video. In this video I learned a lot becasue it was hnestly the first time that I used imovie.
3C
3. The last video I did by putting all the mini clips I took of my kids presenting different characters from the novel Dare to Dream. The video is horiztonal, there was a lot of problem uploading it becasue of the size.
DareToDream
I really enjoy this past week working in our last masters course. I was amaze with myself and the things we were able to accomplish. I really love technology and I will like to put all my knowledge in to practice with my kids next year. We need to me doing this every day so we don't forget.
Its all about exploring and doing, it doesn't matter if you fail on the try, the key is to continue trying and continue learning. At some point you will succeed and raise above your own expectations.
I will probably continue on my way of becoming a masters at the photoshop (LOL), I'm really in to it right now. Thank you Adam for this amazing and motivating course. Now I have to go back to my In Service here at the Euro...
It seems like yesterday when we started the master, time flies. I have a lot of good memories and frustrating moments as well.
The Technology classes have always been a challenge for me, because I don´t consider myself to good at it. Nevertheless I´ve seen a lot of progress and I´ve learned a lot. In this Tech class I was very lost and frustrated at the beginning. Not understanding exactly what to do or how to do it. It was difficult for me to choose the project I wanted to do. Once I made up my mind and after working with Ari and Myrella in Google Docs and the Wiki, I began playing with Photoshop, wow !!! what an experience I couldn´t stop searching fro new things and making the designs for the parts I wanted to leave with color became an addiction hahaha. I realize it tok me more time to learn by myself because I mad a lot of mistakes but I found out that I remember what I did and when I receive instruction on how to do something I forget it sooner, so it is worth to try by myself.
The videos and the stories that we saw during the week were sensational, inspiring and very motivational. It is very nice to see that there are still people in the world willing to make a change and it is wonderful to see how young children around the world are given a chance to succeed.
I had a great experience this week and learned a lot. Thanks to all my classmates for their help and Adam for your videos and talks.
I posted this video by Tommy Emmanuel below in the Day One Recap. I like this video for a variety of reasons... and thought it was great to revisit it here.
It's easy to look at great guitar player like Emmanuel and say... "I could never do that."
All things technology fit into that mindset as well. 'I can't do that' or 'I'm not good at that' or 'I'll never be that good at it' are all thoughts that might cross your mind at one time or another.
The most powerful lesson you can teach is that you never stop learning... that you are not afraid to learn something new.
Many of us older folk, and even younger ones, come from an era of 'scripted learning.' Things are prepared for us, step-by-step. We are asked to follow directions, provide the required feedback, prepare the specified content in a specified format for a grade. We get great at following directions.
Technology though... provides new challenges... and opportunities in learning.
Here's an example of how I showed a person in the Fall Semester last year to create a blog for his work.
A: I'd like you to create a blog for the class. Something creative that documents your journey here, video, audio, reflective writing, inspirational things... whatever you'd like to create on it, that'd be appropriate to share with the class (smile).
Student: Which blog should I use?
A: What ones are available?
Student: I don't know. I've never used one.
A: How would you find out?
Student: I could search for one.
A: Great idea!
Student: Searches for some blogs and finds: Tumblr, WordPress, Blogger... and about 100 other ones.
Student: UGH! There are so many! Which one do I choose?
A: I don't know... they all have different strengths. Take a look at a few and see what you find.
Student: Which one is easiest? Which one do you use?
A: Look at our class blog and see if you can figure out which one we use.
Student: You use Blogger for the class. Why did you choose that one?
A: It integrates with Google, is actually owned now by Google, so I use it... it's easy.
Student: I'll try that one then. Looks cool.
Student: How do I set one up?
A: Good question! How would you find out?
Student: Go to the Blogger page maybe...
You might guess where this went from here. The student tried to prompt me to give them 'specific' directions on how to log in, and all the steps to create a blog. I kept referring them to login, and evaluate what's on the screen: Create a name, pick a template, try rearranging things, and to search for things like, 'Introduction to blogger,' to use the help menus. We went' on through... the student asking "how do I insert a video?" and I'd say... "How do we find out? We can use the help menu, search the web for something like 'how to insert a video in blogger."
They began, slowly, to ask fewer and fewer questions... and in two short weeks, their blog turned into something quite spectacular.
It's easy to look at the finished product and think... I can never get there.
I use five practices with students all the time:
1. Read what's on the screen.
2. Use the web to search for things like 'introduction to...' or 'how to...'
3. Seek tutorials on the web: Podcasts, videos, etc.
4. Try something! Click a button... learn to take risks... and how to step back from failures (Undo, History (in Photoshop), revert to earlier saved versions, etc).
Viewing what's on the screen, what things say, clicking a button... may lead you somewhere.
5. Then... there's promoting the 'experts' in class to help each other. I helped the student above to create a blog, and then asked them to help some others in class to do the same. I was careful though to show them not to do this for another person though, rather, let the person you're helping drive, help steer them, and help them learn to explore what's on the screen.
It's an explorative way to use software... and to teach.
It's a lot like learning to play a baseline... then adding a drummer part, then adding a rhythm guy... and then to play the melody on top of it all.
Tommy Emmanuel didn't just pick up a guitar and play this way. As his skills and comfort level increased, new doors began to open. He experimented, practiced, he sought out mentors (he thanks Chet Atkins in the video for a great lick that he plays in the song), and he refined his craft. Much like the kids we highlighted in the El Sistema video from Venezuela, they learned their craft.
As I said many times in class, each generation has it's challenges. I feel one of the major challenges of this generation is:
Use technology for it's creative capacity rather than just a source of entertainment or basic reading or writing.
By loosening up my guidelines, adding creativity and ownership, and mentoring... I've gotten far better results from students in projects. Ultimately, the students feel the work they do is more gratifying, that they are doing it for their benefit rather than simply doing it for a grade.
If you keep moving forward... you might end up somewhere you always should have been... or somewhere you might never have seen... like working with a great group of folks in Monterrey Mexico.
So...
I added some things to the Resources page, and I'll keep adding posts here if you'd like. Collaborative blogs like this can be a great place to keep learning.
All the Recap posts from the week can be found easily by clicking on the 'Recap' tag, under Labels on the right hand side of the blog. Using labels posts can make things easy to find.
Here's a video I shot with my phone on the way from Monterrey to Houston, out the window of the plane and tossed on YouTube (all on my phone) a few moments ago.
There's so much more you can do with these tools rather than research, write, and read. If you inspire kids to learn with tools... to create with these tools... to build a creative voice... to learn how to learn and explore, well, who knows where they might lead us.
I posted the landing too... not the end of a week-long exploration... but the beginning of something new:
I can't thank all of you enough for your hospitality, your willingness to learn, and to take risks and chances. We saw a great deal of courage this week as you wrapped up a long, three-year journey of classwork en route to your final Master projects, and then on to graduation. I applaud your resolve to take on new challenges and to broaden your horizons in this program. As you know, it's no small commitment... and it should be celebrated! It was a privilege for me to work with all of you. I sincerely hope you keep in touch, keep asking questions (of me and your peers), and keep seeking inspiration for your students and for yourselves. I look forward to returning to Monterrey, to seeing you again, and to new adventures.
It is amazing how fast time flies. The class went by like a breeze and with it, 3 1/2 years of other classes. I love to remember our first class, with Vanessa online.... Picture this: Erika and I sitting in a hallway at the lobby of the Omni Hotel in San Antonio answering to people's reflections. There was no internet available in the rooms. Can you believe it??? So much has changed. Now it is everywhere and free, which brings me to our last Technology class. I have to admit that for me it was not all pure trial and error. I had wonderful Ari next to me, who helped me a lot and gave me the pat on my back when I did things right.(Thanks a lot Ari!! :) ) However, I now understand that in order to keep up with times and technology we need to change our ways of learning. We need to be open to change and evolve with our time. This class did not just teach me Photoshop and Blogger. I learned that I can do things that I did not know I could. An example, me teaching Sofia how to add Twitter to a blog!! I mean normally it would have been the other way around and with me coming back to ask again.
The way I see it, being open to change and learning will keep you updated in your job and personal life and your will feel very youthful all the time when you realize that you DO understand what your children and grandchildren are talking about. Win-Win situation!!
Give yourself a chance and make mistakes. Remember we always learn from them and you can get very far when you set your mind to it. Be brave and face the world to whatever is next in your life!!
Thank you Adam, for teaching us a different way of teaching and learning.
Thank you all for a wonderful time in class!!
Mena
…. And this is my last homework of my last class of my Masters. I can´t believe it! I feel a little bit sad when I realize that time passes so fast…
This was a useful class form me. It was a different class because it was totally constructivist and I don´t think we´re used to this A LOT. I liked that we were learning about what we were interested in and that we had the chance to choose the project we wanted to work on (great for me that we worked on our action research).Maybe at the beginning I felt anxious because I didn´t know where to start from, but then things went just fine.
I learned a little bit about IMOVIE on June, but we thought that there was a lot more to learn about it so we decided to make our project on it. We discovered things we didn´t know how to do and our classmates also helped us several times. Stephy taught me some basic things about Photoshop. I never used it before and now I love this tool. It was great to “discover” it. It is a good idea to learn from others and explore by ourselves.
Even though I learned many things during this week, there´s a lot more to learn and I think it is our responsibility to do it. Technology is moving very fast and we cannot stay behind.
Life is a continuous learning and the ending of something on many occasions is actually the beginning of our discoveries.
I began the week as usual, very enthusiastic. I have to recognize that not moving forward at certain speed (established by me)! provided me with a substantial doses of anxiety. However, the most important part by now are the things I did learn from the experience: created my class blog, began a website to develop our final performance for the masters, added many sites with interesting info to explore in my bookmarks, twitted enough to memorize all the steps required, entered Adam's blog to post this piece and a video linked directly to watch(see below entitled Week's Frustration). Wow! I did learn something! Probably my denial was the simple fact of not getting amazing things done in class as fast as others.
There is a missing piece in the puzzle which I haven't discover but that's for me to recognize and learn.
I do see and admired Adam's balanced emotions when guiding a bunch of ladies; his sensitivity to share experiences with the same feelings as probably experienced by him the very same moment when the events occurred; his constant relaxed manner to teach and experience life, the food, sites, and constant joy for life exploration. Thanks Adam for the lesson...
and THANKS to my peers for being there throughout this journey.
xoxo
I cannot believe this was our last course of the Masters. I still remember when we had the first course with MaryAnn that there were a little bit more than three years to go. I remember saying…”Wow! We are really far away from 2012 for the graduation’’ But yet here we are finishing the last course of our masters, waiting for November to show our Action Research to Vanessa and at the beginning of next year our Masters graduation!! I think we all have grown so much as persons and professionals during these years. We have learned so much from our teachers on of ourselves. I think I learned a lot on this course. I know I wasn’t there a lot but I was motivated to look for sources online and ask peers. I even had some talks with some peers from the masters and discuss what they were doing. I wanted to do for a presentation a video using pictures from my parents… but some of these pictures were really faded and some could even be considered as lost, so I went to look at what could I learn to work with the pictures. By talking to a peer from the masters she told me some teachers were working with Photoshop, and that is when it hit me! I could learn to use Photoshop and fix those pictures. I talk to some teachers about it, found resources online and also I went to ask help to some family members who had some knowledge of Photoshop. It went great! I was really frustrated at the beginning but I found out I could figure it out Thanks Adam for all your help!! It has been a very productive week for me! I sure learned a lot!
I really enjoyed this class, I learned many technologic things but I also learned lessons of life. About technology, thank God for Google docs. Great tool to work with your team no matter where we are! Wiki is a perfect solution for communication with teachers, students, and parents. Photoshop is an amazing and funny tool to change or “improve” pictures, I want to learn more! These are the technologic things I learned.
About life I learned Frustration is so necessary. It could be the motor of your actions. Hopefully you will know how to react and these actions will lead you into great achievements. As teachers it is very important to make our students know we trust them, so they trust themselves and they can pursuit their dreams. So it doesn’t matter if they are frustrated they can defeat their frustration and learn something for their lives.
I like the way we worked, I admit I was lost at the beginning, but I really enjoyed they way we learned from each other once again. Ladies you always surprise me! I am so blessed cause you are part of my life! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for so many great moments! Thank you Adam, it was a pleasure to meet you and worked with you!
Today is the last day of our Master's classes. We've travelled a long way together and we are about to reach our goal: Graduation!
I'll say, in my opinion, that this class was one of the most "relaxed" classes we have had. With relaxed I mean...no homework and no readings to be done at home. Although I can't say the same for the way I felt inside the classroom. I do believe that a constructivist approach is an excellent one for many students, but I now realize that I'm more of a direct learner. I felt very frustrated the first days. I was totally lost. I tried doing a blog on Monday and... failed. I tried working on a wiki on Tuesday and... failed. I tried making a web page on Wednesday and... failed again. On Thursday I saw how one of my peers was working on a blog. It was really nice of her to show me how she had done her blog and some of the "tricks" she'd used. That's when I finally saw some "light" and I was able to do my own blog. Peer coaching rocks!!
I thank Adam for teaching us how to explore, take risks, and challenge ourselves. I still have a lot to learn and I am really glad to know that I am surrounded by very talented persons who I know will be willing to share their knowledge with me. Thank you for this very interesting and learn full experience.
At the end it all comes down to TIME. We need time to sit down and forget about everything else and just dive into the program or application that we want to explore or learn about. This week I sat down and tried my best to learn by making mistakes, asking questions, and clicking on every single button I could find. The key word that I take with me about being in this course is; Explore. I guess technology is like going to the jungle, once you're there you HAVE to find out a way to survive and the only way to do it is by exploring. Thanks for sharing!
As some of you I felt really lost at the beginning of this course and I'm still a little lost ....... but now that I saw what all my classmates were able to do and by the the things I learned, I know that I have a long way to go but....... "I'm already on the road!!!" I just need to dedicate time and practice, practice, practice !!!!
I might be looking for some of you to ask for help, I am really excited to learn about Photoshop and many more :)
Thanks to all of you for sharing great moments during the Masters program.... I can't believe it's almost over, I'm super duper happy !!!
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." Dr. Seuss
I want to use this blog to thank all of you for the wonderful moments we spent together throughout the journey of our Masters in Education!
I have so many memories I will take with me from working with all of you. We shared laughter, frustration, happiness, and sad moments. We learned, made mistakes, had presentations, homework and tests. We had the opportunity to share who we are, what
we like and dislike. We struggled with projects. We met teachers. We went through different moments in our personal and professional lives. Some got married, some had new members in our families...
What I take from this Masters goes beyond academic barriers it's personal growth!
My greatest challenge in this course is the fact that computers and I don’t get along to well and I use them only because I have to. I have a hard time grasping the steps to follow with the different tools, I think this happens because I want to memorize the steps. I feel that I will never be good with using technology.
At the beginning of the course I felt confused, because I was wondering why would Adam want to share musical videos in a technology class? It’s funny but most of my learning was thanks to these videos: I felt a connection when Adam said that the kids from the Venezuela Orchestra were no good at it when they started, just like me with technology. Another thing that struck me was when the piano player explained how children playing piano improved as the years passed by, but you need to not give up, so you can discover that.
I had been working in class with my team on a blog (with the girls guiding me through I did great), but the day I saw the kids in the orchestra I went home really motivated to create a blog of my own. Although I had to come back to school with some questions for Sofìa and my blog is still pretty simple I feel satisfied by the fact that I made a blog on my own because I took the time to explore it and not just memorize steps. I am not afraid of doing it wrong anymore, because I can just delete and start all over!
Thanks Adam, for helping me understand and accept something so simple, such as doing what I don’t know, so I can learn how to do it!!!
Friday´s are always my best days. Today for the first time in a long time I´m happy it is Friday and happy to have the last day of class in my Master and I´m at the same time sad and emotional because I´ve had great times, great memories, and there are lots of things I´ll miss. I am going to miss you all.
I want to thank all of you for the great times we shared in teams, for your comments, for your help, for your laughs......for all the great things I take from you.
Yeiii ! I am proud of myself because I was finally able to create a blog. It took me four days, but I can say that I finally got the hang of it. I wish I was a more Tech oriented person because I've seen some GREAT work being done in class.
Wow! It seems strange to write a recap for day four. Time does fly when you're having fun exploring with great people.
We started off the day with a reminder... a story that saving your work is important! I wrote for about 30 minutes on the blog this morning framing up some ideas. I got distracted and hit some key combination that made the web page move back one screen. The short story is... I lost 30 minutes of writing! When you write, save often, or in the blogs case... 'Save as Draft' often. Some quick typing and another gracious ride from Mena to the school and we were off and running.
Snipping a bit out of both articles, Lehmann offers some great, common sense advice:
Take care of yourself. Teaching is a marathon, not a sprint, and SLA teachers do put themselves out there early and often. I want my teachers to take time for themselves every day. I want SLA teachers to take trips, go to conferences, spend time with family and spend time with each other when they don't talk about school.
Understand that your class is but one of five or six or seven classes that kids have. Understand that school is one of many things in a teenager's life. And while what goes on in your class is important, I ask that teachers remember that, at any given moment in time, there are pressures on their kids' lives that makes what goes on in our classes seem powerfully inconsequential.
Remember that benevolent dictatorship may make for an orderly class, but it rarely helps kids become better people. Giving kids opportunities to feel ownership of the classroom is important because, in the end, you can get what you want or you can get much more.
Remember that inquiry isn't just for kids. If we want our kids to always push themselves to question more, dig deeper, figure it out for themselves, we must be willing to do that too.
A willingness to change. This one gets overlooked sometimes, I think. I've written about this before, but it bears repeating. We talk about how schools should be transformative for kids, but I think they can be just as transformative for teachers. If you expect kids to be changed by their interaction with you, it's got to be a two-way street.
A willingness to reflect. You've got to be able to ask why things went the way they did... both on the good and the bad days. And you have to be able to admit when the reasons it went bad were because of what you did, not what the students did. (Equally important is the understanding that often things go right because of what the kids brought to the table, not because your lesson plan should be bronzed.) Teaching requires a willingness to cast a critical eye on your practice, your pedagogy and your self. And it can be brutal.
Ok, I pasted more quotes than I intended! It's great stuff though... true to the title of Lehmann's blog (Practical Theory)!
I just looked at the blog for the first time in a week... and there's another great post up there that was just written.
The we took a look at a speech from Benjamin Zander 'On Music and Passion' from TED.com. Zander speaks of many things in this video. Maintaining a positive perspective will give you energy. Listening... is important. Practicing your craft... takes time, patience, love, and humility. Passion... transforming from impulse playing to, as he puts it, "one buttock playing" takes... all of the above.
"... For me to join the B to the E, I have to stop thinking about every... single... note... along the way and start thinking about the long, long line from B to E."
My favorite part of the speech... "The conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound.... He depends for his power on his ability to make other people powerful. I realized my job was to make other people powerful. And that changed everything for me... I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people... You know how you find out?... you look at their eyes, if there eyes are shining you know you're doing it... if the eyes are not shining... you get to ask a question... who am I being that my childrens eyes are not shining?"
Important perspectives, and important questions on personal craft and the craft of teaching. Deep reflection is a tough business. It's easy to beat yourself up, frustrated at what you don't know, what you can't do well, what you didn't do well. The trick though is patience, a positive attitude and perspective (the shoe salesman story from the Zander vid!) and a willingness to learn and collaborate. Ultimately though, committing to moving forward will help you recharge and grow, and to set a new course.
Here's Zander's full speech on TED:
After a short break, we took off on some project work. Many continued chipping away, and many shored up week-long inquiries. Some started prepping for tomorrow... and many, I think, started some deep reflection... and the realization is setting in that this is the final class coming up of a long journey.
We took a break for lunch and then dove into a quick recap of iTunes U and OpenCourseWare at MIT.
iTunes has a load of resources it can access on the web via 'iTunes U' and via the Podcast sections on the menu. Open iTunes and click on iTunes U and Podcasting on the top menu bar and explore! You can also get some background info here: http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/ There's an unbelievable amount of free content there... and don't forget to use the search box to find things you are interested in!
Then we dove into a quick intro on one incredible movement and mission called OpenCourseWare at MIT. A university giving away its undergraduate and graduate intellectual property took, well, some guts! Their efforts have made the incredible resources and intellectual capital available to the world and inspired other institutions to do the same. The site reveals more about the history of the program (it launched in 2001), and a great story of what's coming up next on their A Decade of Open Sharing Page.
Our friend Ari reflects on the week.
We said a farewell of sorts to Ari today. Ari left class a day early, off to her new job tomorrow. Before Ari left, she shared her work and reflections this week with the class, a tale of many projects and collaborative learning. Ari's been a mentor to many here in class and in this school and it's easy to see the admiration and love for her in the room. Best wishes, Ari, on the new job!
For all these great folks, a three-year journey of Masters classwork is coming to an end. With such times come tears... of accomplishment, joy, sadness, and the euphoria of closing out a long journey... and the excitement that the future brings.
Tomorrow we'll have some conversational presentations on learning this week... and with that, a whole range of fulfilling emotions, and hopefully a great celebration!
We'll miss such a good friend, colleague and teacher. You are a very special person, Ari. Im sure you will shine wherever you go!
BEST WISHES and keep in touch,
BUUUU
I think that the greatest thing about using technology in the classroom is making it into a complement for our classes. Not everyone learns the same way and, in the classroom, it is often most practical to rely more heavily on visual and auditory information to teach a class. While all students will benefit, not all will benefit to the fullest from it, and this is where things like games could supplement the information, especially for students that need to do something in order to learn http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifit best. I found this resource as an example. The link is about cell division, but the site has other topics as well.
What do you people think about using technology to supplement teaching in the classroom?
I'm having a good time at home photoshopping some nice pictures. I'm making presents for many people. Now my daughters want me to teach them (I don't think I'm ready for that...yet)
I'm feeling a bit frustrated after Ari's lovely presentation.
I can see her table has learned so much (photoshop, blog, web site, i tune u, wikis...) I turn and see that I have only kind of learned how to make a web site... I hope one day I can learn the rest including ipads.
Listen to classical music is something really significant for me. My mother is a piano teacher since 10 years ago and I love when she sits at the piano and plays some music. She likes to play classical music and I love to listen to her. When my mother is playing some classical music my dogs also love to be there sitting down looking at her and it´s amazing how they calm down when she is playing the piano. I use to go with her to some piano concerts of professional musicians from different places around the world. That´s something that we enjoy doing together.
I enjoyed a lot the classical music video. My family loves classical music. Since we were young we heard a lot this at home. My grandfather was a violinist and grandmother a pianist. We have a lot of instruments at home.....but I don't know how to play any!!!!!!!!
My father used to listen to classical music all the time. So, since I was a little girl I learned about it. I think he is the reason why I enjoy this type of music a lot. I would like to transmit the same passion to my students.
Watching the orchestra video made remember so many things. I remembered my dance school days. You spend all your time dancing, there is no time for bad thoughts. Your life become dance, totally! You breath, you eat, you dream, you walk, you talk dance. Your friends become your family since you spend more than 5 daily hours practicing with them. What the boy said about "Music is their lives" it´s totally true. You live for dancing and dance for living. There is nothing else, just dance. And this feelings and thoughts help you to be a better person, because you have something to fight for, you have a reason to improve, you find your passion. And this is the key! Finding your passions will lead you to your life mission!
I think the "Iniciativa Mexico" could be a great platform to develop programs like "El Sistema". Hopefully someone will develop a support system for athletes, artists, musicians, dancers, you name it. We have a lot of talented people in Mexico but unfortunately these talents are waisted.
So find your passions and your talents and squeeze them! Go for your mission!
Now I want to share the choreography "Danzon", same music we heard. By Robert Hill, danced by Ballet de Monterrey. Hope you enjoy it!
Igniting the passion to learn... takes some practice and craft. It also takes some risk taking. We have comfort zones in our learning, our lives, and pushing beyond them and learning new things, seeking out new experiences can be intimidating.
Often times, and especially as a teacher I think, it's easy to fall into a scripted mode, a patterned approach of refining and tweaking those things you already know. Students in school do this as well... 'do what you're told,' and 'how I tell you,' and often 'using these resources and this method, and deliver it to me in this format.' As a result of our system of education many students get good at being led.
Technology though, the rapid pace of development, and the increasing creative capacity of the tools... the ability to do things with a computer and a piece of software many different ways, presents incredible challenges on this scripted method of learning. It's a bit like being on a roller coaster I think.
Lose some preconceived notions and fear... throw your arms up in the air and have some fun.
Who knows where it might just lead you... and your thinking.
Play!
Learning how to learn, how to troubleshoot, how to rekindle that desire to explore and try things, to revisit how to play... can help us reignite our creativity.
The artist can draw on a piece of paper their whole life. They can stay in their comfort zone, cast away chances, changes, and opportunities... or they can take a new challenge, a new opportunity and expand their craft to a large wall. When you try new things, well, who knows where it might lead you.
Demonstrating to children that you don't have all the answers and are learning, that you take risks, that you explore this great world and it's technology is a powerful message... and it takes fortitude. For each child we want learning to be a lifelong passion. In this spirit, we must demonstrate these skills ourselves.
Learning troubleshooting skills with technology, to collaborate, to play and experiment takes some time. A computer and it's software is a confusing, complicated object to some, just like and musical instrument is when you first pick it up. Slowly though, you find out new things, you learn to use tutorials, you learn to ask questions, you practice, you learn to take chances and to try something and see what happens. When you do this, when you step aside from a script that tells you exactly how to do something, when you cast aside preconceived notions and fear... you gain strength. You open yourself to incredible opportunities.
Discussing learning is not limited, of course, to technology.
Maybe... it's a book, a movie, some inspirational writing, a painting, a building, a person, a moment, a question, an invitation, or a piece of music that can inspire you...
We watched and talked about two spirited examples of learning, of passion, of dedication and... nothing less than social reform... and ultimately hope I think.
El Sisteme (official site), the Youth Orchestra program in Venezuela, is one of the most hopeful programs I've run across in some time, perhaps in my lifetime. Here's the summary from Wikipedia. Here's is the programs founder, Jose Antonio Abreu's speech from TED.com that we played as an intro:
After the speech we had more discussion. I shared some stories about some of my own students, those of privilege or poverty, some gifted in the capacity for deep thinking and some who are not. In all cases though many students, whatever their case or ability, have lost hope, they have lost their will to be creative.
A most powerful example of learning is the Teresa Carreno Youth Orchestra, a thread of the El Sisteme program. Every one of these children in these videos likely said at one point 'I can't do this,' or 'I can't play an instrument'... and yet here they are, 17 years old and under, playing some extremely difficult arrangements... with expert musicianship and incredible passion.
Of course, every one of these incredible young musicians, at some point, wanted to throw their instrument out the window. I've had many times in my life where I've thought about turning a laptop into a frisbee. Taking a break, a walk, a meal, or letting my sub conscience work through something on a good nights sleep can bring new spirit, new ideas, new thoughts and again, the development of creative and explorative strength.
I use a quote at the top of my class blog that says "Keep Moving Forward." We are at a new point in our civilization. It is the most communicative, most technically advanced, and perhaps most socially challenging time in history. Urban planning, social reform, global economic issues... there is no scripted curriculum that will allow children in the future to meet these great societal challenges. It's not to say that scripted curriculum cannot be useful... but I believe strongly we need more balance. We need more creativity, to help people think creatively, and to explore exercising their voice. We need to include students more in the creative process of learning, of how to learn, of making things, of stating opinions for larger audiences... of rekindling hope and intellectual drive. perhaps even of meaning in their lives.
Of course... you may not be the one to create a national program. But... with each child you reach, with each spark you kindle in them to learn. Who knows where it might lead. That opportunity... is the great joy of teaching.
WHOO! Ok, now back to some of that recap business...
We added many publishers to our site today, and saw many posts on our class blog and on Twitter... comments on the great videos and discussions we had. Backchannel conversations, reflective writing with friends and people abroad can bring powerful insights. We collaborated on what folks were sharing here, exchanging ideas and information. We posted some framework for our projects. We had some laughs, some tears, and some discussions of helping our friend in the hospital, Elisa, through her plight. We... had a great day. My sincere thanks for your work and your passion to learn.
Tomorrow... we'll continue to explore our projects and help folks seek out answers to their curiosities. We'll explore some new resources, and we'll look toward crafting reflective posts and presentations for Friday.
Before I forget... I mentioned a great web site I found on crafting presentations, storytelling, artwork and many other things today called PresentationZen. The site has a wealth of great material on these fronts and I've enjoyed reading through it over the years.
Excellent snacks today (thanks again Mena!)... spicy chips, hot sauce, and crushed red pepper flakes in the early morning and jamica... I love this place... almost as much as the great people I've had the privilege to learn with here.
