Influencing Change

I am very aware that change can be a very slow and painful process in education. Change can be slow because of external factors such as budgets and school division policies but it is also slow because some teachers simply feel that what they are doing is good enough and that there is no need to change what they are doing.

Let's face it - most teacher's are creatures of habit. Once they find a good thing, they will continue to use it until they retire. Most teachers will also teach in a manner that is very similar to their preferred learning style. Most of the teachers that we have in our schools did not grow up with technology and we can freely admit that most students know more about technology than we do. It is for those reasons that trying to incorporate technology into effective teaching practices will probably take another generation to accomplish (even though this is hard for me to admit).

In order to influence the change teachers, parents, and central office personnel must become knowledgeable and believe in constructivism. As long as there exists a power structure in education some teachers will never be able to let go of the power and become a learner along with the students. Teachers and administrators will have to become comfortable with a philosophy that allows the teacher to be an expert in some areas, like curriculum, and for the students to be the experts in the technology. Then, working together, effective and meaningful learning can take place for all persons involved.

That's all for now. I think I can get some sleep now.
Mathman33

Constructivism

Too many thoughts are floating around so I have to get them out before I rest for the night. I am thinking about constructivism and how society will end up writing history through blogging, wikis, etc. From prior readings I am aware that many people have claimed that the history that we have learned is the story based from a white male perspective and that certain facts along the way have either been exaggerated or ignored. If social networks will now be responsible for telling our stories I wonder who will eventually control the final version of the stories that we need to tell to the next generation. Will the stories be accurate from all perspectives, or will there exist a controlling power that will have final editorial say to reflect only a certain version of history?

Social Issues

Another week has gone by and I still don't have any answers to the questions that keep floating around in my head. After watching Draper's video "Pay Attention" and completing the other readings I can't help but agree with the philosophy that we must incorporate some of today's more popular "toys" in order to engage our students and create a more positive environment for learning.

However, I must also state that I would have problems as a teacher and an administrator to mandate that every student in my school would require an ipod or a cell phone to participate in class. In every school there are children which contend with the daily burden of poverty and it would be unfair to intentionally exclude these students from the learning experiences simply because they can not afford these new toys.

In a way this has always been a significant issue in education, and it will be an issue that I continue to grapple with throughout my career. I understand that the purpose of technology is to enrich the student experience - yet, how do we do this without increasing the gap between the advantaged student and the disadvantaged student? It is similar to the question many teachers face on a daily basis. How do you engage and challenge the brightest students in your class and still ensure that the experience is relevant and meaningful to the students that find school challenging? In the new reality of standardized testing to determine achievement scores and educational funding, do you spend more time on enriching the student experience or do you spend more time covering the fundamentals in the most time effective way possible so that you or your school does not suffer once the results are published? In a world where education has taken a back seat to health care and highways, where are the resources going to come from to give teachers the necessary knowledge, training and time that they will require to incorporate these skills into their lessons?

My ramblings are over for now. I will be back.

Mathman33

So many cool toys ... so little time to play

I have to admit that before I started this class that I believed that I was up to date on most of the tools that a person might be able to use on the internet. Boy was I wrong! Between Google Reader, del.icio.us, twitter, voice thread and flickr I have been amazed at the number of tools that I did not know existed. I must admit that I am still bewildered by the twitter universe but I think that twitter becomes addictive exponentially when the number of followers you have increases. There was a point in time last week when I spent 15 minutes staring at my computer thinking "now what"? Once I started looking at the big picture I realized that the point is that in order to survive and thrive in whatever world in which you work you must have a support structure or contacts. The more brains that you can pick or the more people that you have to bounce an idea off of, the more likely you are to improve your practice and make a difference where it counts - in your family, in your workplace, or in society.

My favorite site that I have explored to date is Ted.com. I have watched a number of videos and I find each one thought provoking. I know this is one resource that I will continue to watch as I am fascinated by the thought processes of some of the worlds greatest minds.

The first two weeks has been fun and a tremendous learning experience. I am certainly glad that I know my way around a computer and have experimented with a number of the tasks that we have had to complete to date. I only hope that has I move forward from this course is that I make use of the skills that I will learn and that I will not get too preoccupied with other priorities to take time out to play and continue to expand the number of communities to which I can contribute and receive support.

Mathman33

Random thoughts on Teachnology

No the title is not a misprint. As an administrator one of the things that we are asked to deal with is the inappropriate (as defined by the teacher) use of technology by students during a teachers class. In my opinion, one of the proposed solutions to this problem is to incorporate the technology they use into our lessons. So how can we make technology into teachnology? Can anyone out there please provide me with ideas on how a teacher can effectively use student popular devices like ipods or cell phones into their daily lessons? I believe that it is better to embrace the technology rather than fight it but we, as educators, have to find a way to keep pace with the students. This will be a rather significant challenge in education in the years ahead. Trying to answer these questions is one of the reasons why I was drawn to this class. Any comments will be appreciated.

That's all for now.

Mathman33

Relationships

I have always believed that relationships are important to create and maintain in order to be a successful educator. As a teacher it is important to have a good working relationship with your students, parents, co-workers and the administrative team in order to create an atmosphere in which all persons can thrive. Despite developing good relationships many teachers are feeling burdened by the pressures of the job. Along with restructuring has come a new focus on accountability, school improvement plans and standardized testing. Many teachers are now wondering how they will have enough time during the day to balance all of these pressures and still have time for themselves and their families. I would like to offer one solution. It is time for teachers, that have not already done so, to develop a relationship with their professional organizations. The STF and their local association can provide many resources and supports to teachers which are feeling alone and overwhelmed by the responsibilities of teaching. This relationship will allow a teacher to expand their network of connections and through those connections will come the knowledge that you are not alone in trying to survive this profession but you have a number of people that will do anything they can to make sure you are successful.

First Reflections

There are two quotes that stand out for me from the article Educational Blogging by Stephen Downes. Those quotes are:

The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents.

Could blogging be the needle that sews together what is now a lot of learning in isolation with no real connection among the disciplines?

From the perspective of an administrator, I think that an administrators blog could be very useful. I know that many schools struggle with similar issues, such as attendance, and we sometimes feel that we are alone with trying to write policies that are effective and fair. A common blog for administrators would give administrators the opportunity to share information to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of our school so that we can make changes that could improve the learning environment of all our schools.

I also believe that a blog has the opportunity to be the needle that connects administrators. Many new administrators believe that they are alone and that they have a limited support structure, especially in small town Saskatchewan. An administrators blog has the ability to become a significant support structure for those new administrators. Once they are aware of the support structure they may have a place to go in order to receive the information that they need in order solve their problem, or vent their frustration, to ease the stress of their work life.

Mathman

Welcome

Welcome to my first blog. This blog is being created for an online Masters class. The class is EC&I 831 (Curriculum and Instruction). The class is being offered through the University of Regina by Dr. A. Couros.

The purpose of this blog is to discuss issues of computers in the classroom and to generate a discussion through the course readings as I reflect and ponder the issues that arise throughout my own growth processes.

That is all for now. Take care.

Mathman