It started like this: I woke up at 6 a.m.
Thought: It's "Friday off" and I've got the whole day ahead of me! I'll map out my scope and sequence for the remainder of the year! I'll do lesson plans for this week! I'll get all the laundry done and get ahead for the weekend! I'll wash the kitchen floor for Easter!
Then the fatal one: Let me just check twitter real quick...
That led me to a timely article:
International Society for Technology in Education - Learning & Leading Multitasking: Boon or Bane?
Yesterday, a veteran teacher and I had one of those copy room conversations about kids and how they aren't willing to struggle to learn. We speculated perhaps it has to do with the digital age they're growing up in and how it hardwires their brains for instant answers without a lot of thinking involved. With her 30 years of teaching experience to use as comparison, she says she is noticing a real change in children in just the last five years and their abilities to think and reason their way around a problem.
So in light of that conversation, I wanted to post the article to my blog, and then to twitter, because I'm taking a Personal Learning Network course and I need to practice the things I'm learning. I get to my blog, and it had the original boring background and titles, so of course I needed to change those before my twitter debut. I went through every background, then fonts, font colors, template arrangements, custom backgrounds, transparent or opaque, and I was finally ready to just give up and accept it as is when I tried to add a picture of my alter ego as Queen. You can see the results in the margin. It's not sideways as witty commentary on my quirky personality, it's sideways because I can't figure out how to fix it. I finally had to leave the house and get some fresh air because I was so frustrated. If only one of my students was here, they'd take care of it in about two seconds..
Now, I know my students don't take computer courses at part of our school curriculum, so how are they so good at it? They are persistent. They will play on the computer and mess around with it until they figure it out. So as educators I guess we can't say that they aren't willing to reason and struggle to solve a problem; it just has to be a task that's relevant to their world, in a medium that's engaging them. What took me hours to do on the computer today, would take them minutes. The math I ask them to do sometimes takes hours for them, but I can do in minutes. May I never forget the struggle of true learning.
Thank you Web 2.0 for keeping me humble. It's now about 11: 20, so actually it's the 4 hour blog post, but how do I change that title....
Amy- such a great debut post, I am so proud! Your blog looks great and your post is enlightening, witty and meaningful-what a great message. I learned from you today, keep writing & challenging yourself and students.
ReplyDeleteQueen Amy, nice job on your blog! Article is right on. I too question what effect teens interacting with technology has. How Facebooking, texting, gaming and constant digital multitasking may be shaping their developing adolescent brains. Or is it possible that this behavior is building better brains? Time will tell. Joanne
ReplyDeleteLove the background! As far as the picture goes, I think once you learn how to fix it, you should keep it as a reminder. Anyways, great insight. I totally get what you're saying. Isn't this the reason why we need to teach them through the medium through which they are most comfortable and engaged in...after all, who cares how they learn content, as long as they learn content that we know they will need!
ReplyDeleteAmy -
ReplyDeleteRelevance - the key. Students will grapple with challenges they find important, meaningful, and skills they will use later in life. (Cambourne) Math is such a controversial subject when it comes to relevance in the classroom setting, but one that has unlimited potential for real-world, PBL. Your analogy is perfect, one that is relatable (many "digital immigrants" struggle, as we do, with the simplest things that take our students two minutes to figure out).
I also enjoyed the circular structure of your post, bringing the reader back to the issue of time! clever. Plus, you added a link, Bravo!
I am excited to see how your "aha" moment will transfer into the classroom. Will it lead to a different lens to view students with, or a reflection in curriculum...
Your blog looks fantastic, can only imagine you a year from now! The crown may certainly be fitting.
-Shaelynn Farnsworth