Time does fly by, doesn't it?
If it did, that means we had some fun and immersed ourselves.
Recapping resources…
fyi… resources from the course… everything we've covered are over there on the right via the syllabus, assignments, about us and 'daily summaries from ap.'
Here are the themes I wanted to explore in the course, and I hope I had some success in doing so.
… like asking people "what do you want to learn." ; )
Daunting question, but we tackled it.
It leads us to deep discussions about relevance, learning, teaching, and the way classrooms work.
People learn in different ways. I've always tried to help learners understand their strengths and use those skills to build and improve their weaknesses.
Diverse projects can often lead to more challenging and thoughtful learning.
"Head and Hand"
- MIT Motto
Spiral curriculum (J. Bruner), using multiple approaches to learning, reinforcing many skills and using many strategies does seem to be in our DNA, doesn't it? ; )
"Less us, more them"
- Gary Stager
I love this motto.
Try new things, new approaches. Never know where it'll go.
Ask for student feedback. Encourage students to use their voice.
The most powerful lesson you can teach is that you never stop learning... that you are not afraid to learn something new.
Learn from others.
My challenge to you…
One hour per week. Dive in. Try something fun. Revisit things that are making a difference and exciting you. When they're not, or you need inspiration… go new!
“Stay hungry, stay foolish”.
- Steve Jobs
The most debilitating approach is saying "I'm not good at this," and stopping there.
I like this challenge from Gary Stager to "take off your teacher hat and put on your learner hat" more often.
Time. Teaching is tough. It's often a culture of 'add.' Adding 'another thing' to my plate though isn't always an option. I strive to rethink how things are working, and how much I'm working and I try to make changes.
Parse. Find new tools and new ways to do things… and don't work too late ; )
Good question I ask myself… a lot… "Are you present?"
I heard someone say this once… I wish I could remember who it was… I wasn't present at the time I guess ; ) …
"Faster doesn't' always mean thoughtful."
It's not a perfect science. I do my best to learn from failures.
Hopefully we put some new tools and ideas in your tool belt: RSS, Blogs, Twitter, Google Apps, sites, search methods (phrase based, help menu, images), learning and design models, creative ideas… toward a direction that was relevant to you and your goals and explorations with kids.
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"Never worry about solving a problem. Just find the right person."
- Marvin Minsky
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You have the 'green light!' Seek out people who inspire you. Conferences, Twitter, blogs, etc has helped me find people doing great things. Find creative ways to bring those folks ideas and even those people themselves into your classroom. Never know, they just might accept an invite!
How do you find those answers you seek? Phrase based searching on the web for your question is a great way to start. i.e. "How do I use Diigo?"
Searching for 'introduction to' and then the subject area. Looking for tutorials. Never know what you might find. Your skills to do this build each time you take this approach.
The 'help' menus are often excellent.
Build collaboration into your work with kids and peers. Teaching can be a silo. So can teaching the same content the same way.
Help your school realize this too if you can. Personalized, teacher centric PD, and on through sensible changes to schedules, policies, and procedures open up learning opportunities. It's a tough battle. Compartmentalize it… chip away.
Step outside your own perspective. "Seeing through the eyes of others."
100 Languages, the 'Romeo and Juliet story'…
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| from 'Meet the Robinson's' video… worth a look! |
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My sincere thanks to you all for your willingness to learn here this week, to take chances, and share in class and on the blog so honestly and sincerely. It was a privilege to learn along with you.
Please stay in touch, keep inventing and sharing ideas. We're all just a click or two away from one another, and I'm always game for a good chat over a stroll, too ; )
My best to you, and my sincere thanks for the work you do in teaching kids, and pursuing your learning goals.
Adam
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