Housekeeping

Alas, the 13th is upon us, and I still have some loose ends to tie up on this here blog.

First, a brief reflection on the summer term for ED 504...

I am really enjoying the class, and looking forward to more to come. I'm a tech guy, and I think the potential for technology in the classroom is REALLY exciting. I can't wait to try my own hand at implementing blogs, podcasts, videogames, and more, into my own teaching. I believe in what we discussed about not using technology solely for the sake of using it, but rather finding the ways that high-tech methods can be truly more useful than conventional alternatives.

I was also really impressed with a lot of the questions that we brought up as a class about some of the challenges to implementing technology. Issues like distraction, privacy, resources, etc., are all very real concerns for the tech-saavy teacher. I will be very interested to here about my classmates' various experiences with technology in their placements, and hopefully we will be able to further develop our awareness of what is useful, practical, and possible, in our own classrooms.

Oh, and I really like Civilization IV and Community High School, in case I forgot to mention that earlier ;-)

Second, I wanted to post links to the two posts by edubloggers that I commented on for our summer assignments:

Activity: Helping Students Find New Books by Bill Ferriter

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2010/07/activity-helping-students-find-new-books.html

The Big Lie (Thoughts on Why School Is Not Only About Workforce Development) by Chris Lehman

http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/1255-The-Big-Lie-Thoughts-on-Why-School-Is-Not-Only-About-Workforce-Development.html

I believe that fulfills my summer assignments. This makes 11 posts, in addition to the 5 comments a week on my peers' blogs, the two podcast assignments, and the comments on edubloggers blogs.

I'm off to play some golf; see you all in a few weeks!

Generation M

Ok, the reading for this week kinda freaked me out a little. I had never thought before about how incredibly obsessed and dependent kids can be on technology. It is pretty crazy to think how 4 year-olds can check their e-mail, but most grandparents don't even have a computer. What's going on?

The idea that we have learned to integrate technology into everything we do is one that resonated with me. I think the fact that I never thought about it before is a testament to how true that statement is. Just the other night, in fact, I was playing a computer game while watching TV AND having a conversation with my buddy at the same time. I'd like to see a baby boomer pull that off! So there is some advantage to our tech saavyness, but at what cost?

The privacy issue is to me the biggest concern. I've mentioned before how I really hate to think about how much private information is out in cyberspace beyond my reach. I can "untag" an unsavory picture on Facebook, but that picture is still being stored somewhere. What if I run for president some day? "Ladies and gentleman, my opponent is clearly shown here performing what kids refer to as a 'keg stand.' Is this the type of man you want running our country?"

Scary.

It brings me back to a previous thought I had about our responsibility as teachers to teach digital responsibility. Students need to know that what they do online is NOT private, no matter how strongly they believe it is. The article also mentioned how Generation Mers tend to blur the lines between their real and digital lives, and that doesn't seem healthy either. We need to identify the healthy, productive, uses for technology, and discourage the potentially dangerous ones. I don't think it is beyond our jurisdiction to incorporate those principles into our own education, and I will try to make a point to do that.

Edublog Reflection: Lumping and Splitting

Hello, friends. The time has come for me to reflect on a post by an edublogger. That edublogger is Bill Ferriter, his blog is The Tempered Radical, and the post is called "Activity: Helping Students Find New Books."

Ferriter's post talks about the overwhelming feeling that struggling readers get when they walk into the library looking for a book. Without a strong sense of what they are looking for or what they enjoy reading, some students might be inclined to just grab a few books off the shelf and call it a day. Although there is some merit to letting students figure this process out on their own, Ferriter argues that teachers should take a more active role in helping students find books.

What I found most interesting about the article was Ferriter's discussion of the concept of "lumping and splitting." From what I was able to derive, lumping and splitting involves organizing (lumping) a collection of information - be it songs, books, movies, quotes, etc. - based on some type of criteria such as relationships to things you know you like or recommendations by friends, and then dividing (splitting) that collection into workable groups. For the example of the struggling reader in the library, being assisted through the process of collecting a sample of books they might be interested in, and then parsing through them to pick the best ones, could be very very helpful. Ferriter also argues that students can help each other with lumping and splitting, by making recommendations and evaluating different books.

I am really intrigued by the concept of lumping and splitting, and wonder how it could be applied more generally. It got me thinking about how not that much attention is given to things like notetaking and organizing information, even though those skills are SO valuable in college and beyond. Perhaps teachers should take more time to teach students HOW to learn, rather than what.

Redefining Failure (or) Getting Punched in the Face

(Please note the unprecedented on-timeness of this post. I told you I was working on it...)

The idea was brought up in class today that we, as educators, need to redefine what it means for a student to fail. Wrong answers should not equal failure. Students shouldn't treat their education like a quest to avoid incorrect answers at all costs. Tests shouldn't be returned and never addressed again. If anything, wrong answers should be at the core of learning. You can't learn much from correct answers.

Personal anecdote time.

I've been involved in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) for a few months now, and I finally had the opportunity to spar with my instructor the other day. Up until that point, we had only worked on drills and scenarios; I had never actually put on the headgear and attempted to put everything together in a simulated fight. I can't even express to you how excited I was when my instructor told me to get my mouthguard and meet him out on the mat. I was confident from months of training on punching bags and in controlled environments, and even though I had never done it before, I liked my chances of making some noise in our "fight."

Then I got punched in the face.

The physical pain was nothing remarkable. It was sudden, loud, and jolting, and my headgear was knocked out of place, but I didn't get knocked down or anything. Rather it was the mental pain that was more devastating. I tried to regroup and punch him back, but he remained constantly one step ahead of me. Every punch I threw he slipped and countered. I got tagged over and over again, each time becoming more frustrating than the last.

When we were done, I spit my mouthguard on the ground and threw my gloves and headgear down in disgust. So much for all those months of training, right? I was discouraged to the point of nearly quitting for good, and I became convinced I was destined to get my ass kicked forever.

That's when I had a realization. I was only destined to get my ass kicked forever if I quit then and there. Like the student who gets a question wrong on a test, I could either stuff that experience in the bottom of my backpack and never think about it again, or I could go back and think about why I got punched in the face repeatedly. I became determined to figure out the flaws in my game, and I can't wait to get back on the mat and avenge my first defeat.

The point? Sometimes the best way to learn is to get your ass kicked. Failure shouldn't be avoided, it should be embraced. We need to create classroom environments where kids aren't afraid to fail, and we need to be ready to teach based off of those failures (and to protect our heads at all times).

What a Gee

James Paul Gee is my new hero.

His article said everything about the educational potential of videogames that I have been afraid to say. As an avid videogame player, and proponent of games in the classroom, I've long wondered how far I could take many of the arguments that Gee makes. The fact that he even mentions shooting type games in his argument, makes me all the more excited about my new ally. I would never have vocalized the argument that shooters can teach problem solving, teamwork, and procedural knowledge, even though I think it's true. I have a hard time believing shooters will ever justifiably be used in the classroom, but it really made me happy to see somebody taking the videogame argument all the way.

I'd like to share some of my own experiences to help illustrate some of Gee's points. I've never had much of an attention span, and I've been fortunate(?) enough to find school quite unchallenging for much of my academic career. As such, I've cruised through most of the assignments I've ever had, performing the bare minimum to get the grade I desire. In fact, until my later years of undergrad, the only sustained, active, mental engagement I experienced with any regularity, was in the form of videogames.

Now before you write me off as a total loser, you should consider some of my virtual accomplishments: I've built towns, cities, and empires; I've solved murders and averted nuclear disasters; I've won heavyweight titles, PGA tours, and world championships in every major sport. Hell, I've even won a Superbowl with the Detroit Lions! Who's a loser now?

You're probably questioning if the digital accolades I've accumulated are worth the countless hours I've "wasted" in pursuing them. My short answer? Hell yes. The sense of accomplishment I felt when I finally brought the Lombardi trophy to The D, was on par with those associated with many of my "real" achievements. Maybe the players were fake, but the hole I left in my living room wall when I chucked my controller in victorious excitement was very, very real. And I genuinely believe I learned something, too.

Sports videogames are about more than moving fake athletes around on a screen. You have to negotiate injuries, trades, and contracts. You have to balance player needs, personalities, and salaries. Many people don't realize it, but the bulk of the time a gamer needs to take a team from season to season on the road to a championship, is spent on the managerial aspect - piecing together the various components of a championship organization. The same can be said for conquering the world in Civilization IV or becoming successful in The Sims. The amount of time kids are willing to dedicate to those tasks, is of an educational importance that we would be remiss to ignore.

This Was Due by Monday

So.... I clearly have some issues getting my "post-class" reflections in on time. I need to work on it.

That being said, I'm here now, so get ready for some serious reflecting.

Twitter: Not a fan.

At first, I was really intrigued by the prospects of Twitter in the classroom. I thought simple messages would be a great way to keep students interacting with the material in a different and fun way. I imagined a room full of enthusiastic students, diligently working on their assigned material, and harmlessly tweeting things on the side like, "Algebra is cooler than I thought!" or "Shakespeare... Awesome!" Instead, I witnessed as our own class became totally distracted by this "tool."

Now I realize that last week's class was not the fairest representation of Twitter implementation. Many of us were asked to experience Twitter for the first time, and I'm sure the novelty was a large part of the reason we were so easily taken off course. I also realize that most school-related Twitter tasks will be assigned for outside of the classroom, and that some dialogue about things unrelated to class can be healthy for students. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that even the mere endorsement of Twitter can be contained in a constructive way. If we not only allow students to set-up Twitter accounts in class, but encourage their use as a part of our curriculums, we are going to lose their attention.

Now, I also understand that most high schoolers don't bring laptops to class, and that any Twitter assignments would most likely be conducted at home. This still presents problems for me. In short, I just think it will be too hard to control what students Tweet about. Whether their posts are merely unproductive, or downright harmful to their teachers or peers, I just don't think the opportunities outweigh the drawbacks. I appreciate being exposed to Twitter as an educational tool, but I don't see myself using it in my own teaching.

Cheating: Also not a fan.

Ok, obviously I'm not a fan of cheating, but I think the implications of cheating go far beyond just academic dishonesty of students. I completely agree with the article we read about the cheating problem being a reflection of a bigger problem in our educational system. An emphasis on accountability changes a students' focus from learning to doing well on a test. When that is what is important, students will attempt to achieve it by any means necessary.

I personally believe, as I stated in class, that we need to reconsider what cheating really is. If the emphasis is on information, we shouldn't worry so much about how students obtain it. Is there really a harm in using the internet to find an answer to a question? In the real world, students will have access to computers. The ability to use that technology to answer questions is as useful as the answers themselves.

I realize I'm being idealistic here, but I think cheating is a reflection of a bigger problem, not the problem itself.

Tweets and Cheats

Hmmm... some really interesting ideas brought up in the readings for tomorrow's class. On the one hand, I really like Hadley Ferguson's thoughts on Twitter as an educational tool. I think she makes some great points about how Twitter is not only a great way to connect people, but also is simple enough to keep things moving along. 140 characters can say a lot, but not too much, and that can be really useful in managing ideas on a greater scale.

I was a bit confused by Kate Conley's rebuttal to Ferguson's article. I didn't really interpret Ferguson as advocating a maverick approach to learning. The article is all about creating learning networks, how is that suggesting learning by one's self? I think the value of Twitter is about the greater network that can be created, and I don't think Ferguson was saying anything different.

A lot of the research I've been doing in our other classes has lead me to articles about the importance of collaboration among teachers. For all the burned out educators out there, there are definitely some teachers who really care about improving their craft. By collaborating with other progressive minds, they can not only improve their ideas, but also maintain the motivation to keep fighting the uphill battle of educational reform. Even a simple tweet from a friend across the country can remind a discouraged teacher that there is still hope.

With regards to the Sessums article on cheating, I think he makes a REALLY good point. I think the logic he is applying with regards to looking at why students cheat, rather than how, is the same type of logic that should be applied to examine many different facets of education. I am totally against high-stakes assessment, and I think the fact that such tests encourage cheating is just one of many reasons why they're whack. The same could be said about restrictive curriculums in general, and the ways teachers respond to them that make them ineffective educators.

I also think it should be noted that high-stakes assessments don't only encourage students to cheat. When the results of a test can determine the amount of money that comes into a school, teachers and administrators can fall into the trap of unethical practices. We need to develop strategies that compel students to actually learn material, rather than hold onto it for as long as they're being held accountable.