Post 12: More to do

This class was too much is a great way. It's nice when a class ends and there is more you want to know. It's frustrating, but it's much better than better than realizing you just learned a bunch of material you don't care to know. This class made me more aware of what I don't know and gave me many opportunities to prove it.

I liked all the observing and teaching opportunities. This class displayed both the practical and theoretic aspects of education, but I would have preferred a little bit more time on the theory of it all. There were occasions that I found myself preparing a lesson without a focus on the foundation, but that sounds like more of a problem with me than the class.

Thanks.

Post 11: Fear and Horror

I've been teaching in a class of a former student of this program and a former attendee of the same class in which I will student teach. I chose the teacher I will student teach for because of his attitude and dedication to his students. He really loves his job and his students. I'm excited to work with him and learn from him, but I'm fearful of losing myself in the process. I have a teaching philosophy and many standards I want to hold myself to.

My fears come from the observation of his former student teacher. Not that this teacher is not excellent or doing wonderful things. My concern is that his style is so similar to his mentor teacher that I'm concerned I may follow. Not that it's the wrong path, but it's not mine. Does student teaching overwhelm any and everything learned up to that point? Will I set aside the foundations of education to follow a guide? If I do so, I may be an adequate teacher, but I will be limited because instead of knowing my foundation and theory for action, I will be say things like, "I do it this way because that's how my mentor teacher did it." So the action may be excellent, but the reasoning is horrendous.

Post 10: 6th Grade

When my group taught a sixth grade class, we focused on their social studies curriculum and taught a lesson on invention and innovation. As a team, we has three sections. Jessica M. and I taught about the assembly line and had an activity in which the student created their own production plan. We gave each team unassembled pens and some paper to insert a logo. We gave them time to come up with a plan, then gave them one minute to put their plan into action, then some more time to fix their plan, and finally three minutes to make as many pens as possible.

It was fun, but I could also see that the students were making connections to real life applications. One student used the term "assembly line" before we did and another student brought up Henry Ford before we did. The students made it clear that the content we were teaching was not new to them, but the activity was well received although they were familiar with the material, the practice was worthwhile.

Post 9: Teaching Noted

One major mistake I made in this teaching exercise was during a class discussion. I was doing a pretest to determine what the students understood as reasons for maintaining equipment and I did not record the responses I was collecting. I should have written the correct answers on the board. I did go back over the list with the students orally, but it would have been more clear if I had written it down.

I don't like it when teachers do this. I have a tendency to ignore the comments of my peers. (I find it obnoxious when students constantly raise their hands to tell stories. This is hypocritical because I often make comments or ask question in class, but I don't find it annoying when I do it.) If their comments are relevant to what I need to know, then I often miss it. I need the teacher to authenticate students' observations as valid.

Post 8: My Week

I will teach this week.

At first, I thought the best route would be to try something that is the complete opposite of what I would initially be inclined to do in front of the class. I could take advantage of this opportunity to try and be a completely different teacher than I am naturally and hopefully I would learn a few things while out of my comfort zone.

Although I still see some merit in that tactic, I think the more useful plan is to do the best I can get notes from the professor and peers of what to improve.

I'm spending a lot of time with the educational theorists we discussed in class and going though my lesson plan line by line, identifying the theoretic source of the practical teaching methods I have been taught or observed.

Post 7: Time for Fun

I am slowly learning how important time management is in the classroom. I am working with a teacher preparing lessons for a project I am doing in his classroom. As I excitedly told him about my unit plan and gave some sample lesson plans, he told me I was boring.

At first, I was thinking that I was treating the students like adults by not trying to "entertain" them. But, if I'm an adult, then my experience in 276 has taught me that I need to be entertained a little. Three hours of direct instruction is difficult to get through and any sliver of "entertainment" is welcome.

The class I observed was 90 minutes of the teacher standing in front of the students and talking at them. I may have been able to handle it better if the information was interesting or pertinent to me, but as it was, I was struggling.

It's easier to learn the information and recite it to the students, than to incorporate multiple levels and dimensions of learning.

I am going back through my lesson plans to develop activities that teach or support the material. Wish me luck.

Post 6: Assessing Sarcasm

TSA

Last week were the Technology Skill Assessments. I passed, but I didn't really feel all that great about it. I went in thinking the tests were a waste of time, but a couple of the tests took me nearly to the limit of 30 minutes to complete. That's not right. My ego was fairly bruised by the end.

I'm a student of both the Technology & Engineering Education and Media Education programs. The assessments should have been easy for me, right? Should I drop out because it takes me nearly 30 minutes to make a poster in Word?

I took a class this summer in the education department and once the instructor found out that I was in the Technology Education department she had me sitting on the front row. She asked me to get to class 10 minutes early so she could go over what media she was using during class. I did, but I'm sure there were students in class that were much more adept at troubleshooting her computer problems than I.

I'm going to cut this conversation off shorter than it deserves. I suppose I just wanted to spend a little time reflecting on the differences between what is being taught and what others think is being taught. What am I expected to know? Will my Principal be disappointed when he realizes I'm not going to double as the IT guy?


SARCASM


Since the conversations in sarcasm in this class, I've been much more aware of my own sarcasm and the sarcasm around me. I have a friend that has been pointing out when I'm sarcastic, which is interesting because I'm much more sarcastic than I realized. I don't have very positive notions of sarcasm because when I think of it, I think a couple of people I know that use it so often that it is obnoxious. It's impossible to have any sort of conversation with them because all they want to do is be sarcastic.

In the classroom, I thought sarcasm would be fine until TEE 200. I am terrible in this class. I might fail it.  I have no idea what's going on and even when I do, I'm terrible at it. I need to be walked through every single step. The TA's sarcasm is not helpful. It seems less like humor and more like sadism.

Post 5: My Analysis In the Studio

Persogenics

I'm interested in reviewing the questions again and rereading the instructions. While taking the test I could have chosen several "correct" answers depending on a given situation. It was a struggle to choose the environment that I would be applying the action.

I liked this activity as a reminder of the differing personalities and types of learners in the classroom as outlined by Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. Every personality should be able to and encouraged to learn in my classroom.

Observing

Side Note: I know the names of the teachers and schools that I am observing, but I choose to leave off most proper nouns as not to set off Google alerts for those associated. I'm not saying anything inappropriate, but my words are not intended for others.

The class that I observed this week was awesome. It was awe inspiring. The teacher, John, has news broadcasting and video production classes. It's a new school and he was allowed to design his own room, and it's obvious that he put a lot of thought into giving his students the most professional experience possible. John spoke of how he started with one camera and two VCRs and it was only through hard work that he now has a full news studio. It was encouraging to see a teacher closer to retirement than his first day and still full of enthusiasm. He didn't act as though he had figured it out twenty years ago and was oozing the genius onto his students.

I preferred this class to the jr. high classes I observed. The students were much more autonomous and motivated. The teachers were much different as well. The jr. high teachers I observed didn't seem to enjoy their jobs quite as much as John, nor did they take as much pride. John told stories about previous students, and openly complimented his current students and praised their hard work. 

As far as comparing teaching philosophies, I hope to adopt and better understand his. I have sent an email to Dr. C requesting to student teach in his class.

Post 4: Observing Jr. High Round 2

This classroom observation was a much different experience than last week's observation. Both were good experiences. Last week I saw a side of teaching that was a little mundane. I saw well behaved students taking notes. It was procedurally fine, but I wasn't sure if it was the most effective because I saw little feedback from the students. I think I want a class with more going on.

This week, I got what I wanted and observed a more participatory classroom. The students were moving between three classrooms (a class with desks and a projector, a computer lab, and a shop). They were learning about alternative fuel sources and CO2 cars. There was a lot going on, and more than I could handle. I felt uncomfortable in the classroom. The students were yelling out and the teacher's tactic was to ignore it and move on. The teacher responded once with a snide comment. The teacher has a policy to not give out homework, so everything had to be finished while they were there and in front of him. As a student, I think I would have preferred to do some research on aerodynamics and get different ideas for car shapes on my own before designing my CO2 car, but the plans had to be finished in class. Everything was such a time crunch there there was little conversation about the "big picture" of the projects they were working on. We came on a transitional day between two units, so that may have been the source of some of the confusion on my part.

The teacher has the curriculum that I want to teach and he has access to all the resources, but not the sort of classroom management that I want. There were about a half dozen really aggressive students that were constantly talking. They were disrespectful and almost offensive at times and the rest of the class was silent. The aggressive students were participating. This is where is becomes a little tough for me because although it was loud, the students seemed to be participating. Granted there was zero participation out of some, but my point is that perhaps the behavior should take a distant back seat to education. Maybe this teacher has learned over the years that if he disciplines the students, then they stop listening and then they aren't excited about the projects.

I think I am realizing a major flaw for me as a teacher. I don't think I will be very patient with behavior issues. I will send the students to the office. I will address every issue. One thing that I learned in a classroom management class is that ignoring the problem is an acceptable tactic. If you can ignore it and it goes away, then addressing it in front of the class is only causing more problems. That will be difficult for me. After class, I asked the teacher we observed today how his teaching style has changed over the years because I wanted to talk about behavior and he said, "I'm easier than I used to be."

His easy going nature is impressive. No matter how loud or rude the students were, he never deviated from the lesson. It was like he was going to teach it no matter what. I worry about the students that quietly did the work. Perhaps he speaks with them one on one or they get more time on other school days, but there were some students who stared blankly, trying to tune out the aggressive students, waiting for the bell to ring.

Post 3: Teaching and Observing

On Tuesday, we split up into groups for a teaching exercise. Each member of the group had 12 minutes give a lesson on anything relating to technology education. I felt comfortable writing the lesson and it seems to make sense when read, but I don't seem to be completely clear when I teach. I appreciate being given the opportunity to practice in the class and I hope to find more opportunities. I'm interested to read the feedback from my peers as well as Dr. Geoff Wright.

The most memorable moment of the activity was feedback from Dr. Wright following one of the teachers. He asked what the purpose was. Why did you teach what you taught? It seems to be a trend to teach specific technological tools or skills without theory. It seems backwards to teach how to use a hammer before teaching about architecture, style, and developing an appreciation and love for the craft. Tools should be available to aids us in producing what we want and we should be skilled enough to find and learn how to use the tools we need. It seems odd to pick up the tools in front of me, and then decide what I can make. Teaching how to use a piece of technology should be less about that specific tool and more about how to learn new technologies and find those tools that will help you produce what you have created.

On Thursday, we observed Junior High technology courses. I observed a 7th grade CTE Business class, the morning announcements, and a 9th grade computer class. The teacher did a lot of great things. She was organized and very clear with all the students. It was easy to see many of the things that we have talked about in class. She gave a pretest and went over the instruction and objectives so that everyone understood. All the students participated. The students were given the opportunity choose the specifics of what they were doing. I could go on and on. She was a pitch perfect teacher. The problem is I was bored.

During the 9th period class, she was teaching Word. They were taking notes on "Save." We came on a less exciting day because the entire period was note-taking. The teacher would give a vocabulary word, read the definition, and the students would write it down. It was good that I came on this day because perhaps that is the harsh reality of teaching, although I still believe it isn't. 

One criticism was that the teacher seemed to be giving the lesson despite the students students questions or concerns were brushed aside to get through the content. It's true that if she had addressed every question, then she wouldn't have made it through the lesson and it's probably a pretty safe bet that their question would be answered eventually or their question didn't carry much importance. One example: A 7th grade student asked if the border of the word art could be blue and black. The teacher responded that it could. "You may choose any color you want." He was actually asking how to use two colors, not if the colors he wanted were acceptable to her. She moved on with the lesson. Does it matter? Is he worse off for not knowing how to use multiple colors in his word art? If she would have stopped and tried to understand his question and then explain how to do that, it may have caused the other students to lose interest and stop listening and maybe she wouldn't have finished her prepared lesson.

Post 2: Three Primary Domains

Behaviorism

The concern of behaviorism is that the students are performing for a reward and are neither retaining the material nor learning to learn without extrinsic motivation. Some behaviorism techniques were not effective for me when I was a student because I was not particularly competitive and candy was not motivating to me. The aspect of behaviorism that was very motivating for me was when the instructor would explain the outcome and it was interesting to me. Then I would be motivated to succeed and reach that outcome. Grades were motivating to me because I had a positive impression of college and believed that I needed good grades to attend the university of my choice.

Thorndike's experiments concluded that once you take away the rewards that mark the path to a larger reward, the subject will continue on the same path because of the knowledge of the larger reward. The importance to this is that students must be aware of the larger reward. Those rewards along the way need to be reminders of the big picture and why the students are on the path you are leading them.

Constructivism

Jean Piaget

Paulo Freire

Constructivism lends itself to technology education because of the emphases on hands-on learning and problem solving methods of teaching. There are many aspects to constructivism and hope to utilize many of them in my teaching. One of the philosophies of Paulo Freire is that students are not empty vessels. This is particularly interesting to me as a teacher in this field because I teach such practical skills and knowledge that many of the students will have already had many interactions and ideas that may be right or wrong. In the educational documentary Minds of Our Own the filmmakers show examples of students coming into a situation with a preconceived notion and after learning the correct way, still hold to their original beliefs or after a short time revert back to incorrect beliefs.

It is important that the educator realize that students are walking into the class with thoughts about the material and those thoughts need to be addressed early and often. 

Cognitivism

Noam Chomsky

You mentioned a "Chomsky" as a philosopher we need to know and the only "Chomsky" I know is Noam Chomsky, but I know him as a linguist turned political activist. I Googled him with cognitivism and discovered that he wrote a paper in response to B. F. Skinner's study on behaviorism, but I'm not sure what I should know as far educational cognitivism goes. What do you think?

Cognitivism is the ultimate goal. I will do everything else in my class as a way to lead them to higher levels of Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy. What I teach in my class will be for naught if the students are unable to reflect upon what they are learning. My goal is not to teach specific skills, but to teach the ability to learn and understand what is being learned and how it is being learned, so that it may be replicated. 

Week 1: The Wong Book

The first lecture of the semester was centered around an early assignment to write our philosophy on teaching. It was thought provoking. I haven't written my philosophy yet, but I have two ideas that I think I am going to focus on. The first is access.

I want the students to learn all I have to offer and the opposition to that is lack of access. Access can be denied or less available based on many factors, and for my paper I will try and find those factors and come to some conclusions and develop a philosophy for creating the least restrictive environment possible in my classroom. This is particularly interesting to me because of my investment in media and technology. I want my students to have every technological advantage available to them. Access is an issue that I've heard teachers complain about at conferences and in my own program. Lack of funds may make it more difficult to provide all the technology I want to, but even with a limited budget I believe I can find a way to get the media and technology into the classroom and students can have a hands on experience. I need to rework this idea because it sounds more like a challenge than a philosophy. I just don't want to be a teacher claiming that I would do more, but I don't have the funds. I want to give my students everything with what I do have.

The second part of my philosophy that I want to address is teaching storytelling principles, media effect on society, and film theory in conjunction with video production. My high school experience in media classes would have be better had my teacher focused on more than just the technology tools.

I've read 220 pages of our first text (pictured above) and initially I was skeptical. I kept wanting the author to stay on one subject longer and go into more depth. It jumped around and every section seemed incomplete. On page 19 there is a story entitled "If Only Someone Would Start the Class" that seems incomplete. The author is repetitive. I'm pretty sure I have read the phrase, "You manage a store, you don't discipline it" a handful of times. But all those are dumb little complaints compared to the benefits. I spent a lot of time with this text and it has brought to mind more than expected. By addressing so many aspects and bringing up so many questions, it inspires more contemplation and discussion than I would have thought. Great read.

Feathers McGraw