Dew's & Doughnuts

Today was our last day of class :(

Professor Langholz presented this really neat powerpoint on the "Dew's" and "Doughnuts" of teaching. I liked how creative it was and how he captured our attention by feeding us candy! :)

My favorite "Doughnut" that he presented wat to not beat a dead horse. I think this happens quite a bit in education and eachers don't realize that it is happening. As professor Langholz said, if a student doesn't understand how to solve a math concept, help them find a new way of learning. Because if you don't, the student will only understand how not to solve that math concept.

Do Schools Kill Creativity

I watched a clip online about creativity. This was a presentation given by Ken Robinson. It was really interesting! This clip talked about how kids are the most creative because they are not afraid to take risks and make mistakes. He also talked about how it is difficult for teachers to educate students for the future when we have no idea what the future might hold.

Lost Generation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA


This clip was AWESOME!! When this was read the first time I focused on the family aspect of it. I think this is true... today is a "quick fix society" and families don't stay together like they should. This makes me angry. I guess I am from a family where divorce is not thought highly of and doesn't happen. I was taught to be with someone when you love them and are ready to not place yourself first. I don't believe in divorce.

The second time this was read, I was amazed! I didn't see that coming! This goes to show that things cam appear differently if you make them.

First Night of Videos

Monday Night was the first night of videos. They were pretty interesting. The thing I found most interesting was that people had so many different ideas. I never even thought of doing a slide show like the first group had. I think because there were no guidelines, peoples' creativity really shown through! It was cool to see the different ideas so far and am excited for next monday to see even more.

Presentation at Decorah Middle School

The presentation given last monday was really interesting. The most interesting thing I learned was that just as your body goes through times of growth, so does your brain. I didn't know that your brian had two major points of growth and that during those times, it can be damaged more easily.

One thing I did not like about the presentation is the way she presented. I felt as though she treated us like young children. I didn't like how she spoke in different voices to try and be funny. This is a lesson learned as a future teacher. I think it is important to know the age of your students and to not teach them at a lower level.

"Mock Meeting"

Tonight in our usual Monday night class, we did some role playing. It was very engaging as a student. I had the role of being a fine arts teacher. I was supposed to defend my department by explaining why the fine arts are important in school. This was somewhat of a task for me because I am "anti-artsy". Anyways, it was really interesting to hear all the different points of view on the main topic, "how to develop a High Stakes Community School."

Many opinions were heard, parents of high achieving students, parents of low achieving students, local businessmen, teachers, students, and more. I am not sure if this "school" would ever be possible. I think this because the entire night was a debate, if that many people disagree on one issue, it will certainly be a challenge to convince parents, teachers, community members, as well as anyone who has some sort of tie with the school to be in favor of such a huge change.

I think class itself was very informative. I learned just as much as any other class but in a more interactive way. I believe there are ways to teach to make students excited and WANT to learn.

Excited About Teaching

Yesterday, there was a Paideia lecture given. Most times the lectures are slow paced, boring lectures about information that happened a long time ago with some really old person that did something important in history for some reason or another. Sounds exciting doesn't it?! Yesterday was different. I walked in and I did my usual routine, found a comfortable chair behind a group of people, slouched down, got my notebook ready, and closed my eyes while I waited for the lecture to be over. I was resting peacefully when this woman at the front of the room started screeching! She was clapping her hands saying how excited she was about the lecture. Then she put her arm in the air holding the "I Love You" sign with her fingers and said, "I just wanna give a shout-out to my home-dogs in section 23! WHOOT-WHOO!! Right then I knew this was not going to be an ordinary lecture. The entire time, I didn't take notes... I didn't have to, I was so engaged watching this woman pace back and forth, use over-excentric body movements, and shout! Even the slides of the power-point made me think this woman was off her rocker! One of the titles of the slides said, "Why Hannah Is A Bad Ass!" I am not making this up!
I walked away from that lecture thinking this woman may be the reason riddalin was invented! The more I thought about how crazy she was, the more I respected her. As a teacher, it is not easy to stand up in front of freshman college students and lecture when you know they don't want to be there! It took real guts to do what she did. She used herself as a prop. She made people pay attention! Even if it wasn't directly aimed at the power-point or what she was saying, she made a group of people stay engaged. This in turn made them absorb at least SOME of the information given. The slide for instance, that I thought was insane, "Why Hannah Is A Bad Ass!", it doesn't matter what I think of the slide, the point is that I remember it. She made that happen.
She proved to me that as a teacher, you are going to face challenges, it is how you tackle those challenges which determines if you are a good teacher or not!

Monday Night Presentation

Monday night, there was a presentation given by two speakers. I really found it interesting what Jennifer O. had to say. Although all students get to hear about in college is rules and deadlines and more rules and deadlines, I really enjoyed hearing it because it is directly related to my future. I thought it was amazing to have it laid out in front of me, everything I have to do in order to graduate and be done. She gave out a lot of information, but the truth is, she was done speaking in 40 minutes. It is scary to think that i do not have much time before I will be standing in front of a group of people going through rules and deadlines with them! It really put things into perspective for me!

IQ testing... fair?

In one of our group discussions, the idea of IQ testing was brought up. The more we discussed this, the more I thought IQ testing is unfair.

IQ tests are not fair to all people because people come from different places, with different backgrounds, and different experiences. The majority of the group agreed with this conclusion.

There are many variables that are put into taking an IQ test. Not only is it unfair to test different people from different areas with the same test, but some people do not test well at all. Emotions and feelings play a role in this topic.

We thought there should be a better way to assess knowledge other than a standardized test.

Basketball Game & Vygotsky's Theory

So, instead of going to class last Monday I went to the Crestwood boy's basketball game in Cresco. However as I was there, I observed a theory we have been talking about; Vygotsky's Theory. According to Vygotsky, mental functions have external, or social, connections. Vygotsky also stresses the importance of social influence especially in instruction on a child's cognitive development. Also, he discusses the zone of proximal development (ZPD). This term referrs to tasks that are too difficult for a child to master alone, but can be learned with guidance and assistance.

The basketball game reflects Vygotsky's theory well. In basketball the coach becomes the external instructional influence Vygotsky referrs to. Players are able to perform the skills on their own, however to play as a team and combine their skills with those of others requires the help of the coach. This is an example of the (ZPD) term.

Paper Clips

I thought this movie was really good in many ways. I thought it was good that it was made by students and shown to students. I think this is good because they can relate to each other better than other options.

Although I am not sure there is ever a time to discuss this event because it is so intense, I think that kids at that age will be impacted more and it will effect them more in the future. Kids at that age are innocent and oblivious so I think it was okay to have them experience that information at that age even though the content may not be completely age appropriate.

I do not think that kids can be assessed on the impact of something like this. I think the knowledge can be assessed in tests or something but to see a change in the way they think, which i believe was one of their goals in this project cannot be proven.

I think that the kids giving the tours for other schools is a positive! It makes them responsible for knowing the information and also gives them a feeling of individual contribution.