“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
Growing up I was able to experience a public (grades 1-10) and private school education (grades10-12), which has made me a quite advocate for equal access to quality education. Although, I have had many school experience that have come to shape the way I teach, I have also found that outside-school experiences have expanded my content knowledge. The first thing that comes to mind is reading. I grew up an avid reader and loved soaking up new vocabulary and captivating stories. It may seem minute, but pleasure reading allowed me to unconsciously expand my vocabulary and critical thinking skills. Reading novels like Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon allowed me to analyze text and seek out more knowledge. One specific experience I've had was being an attendee at a conference during my first year as a teacher. I honestly don't remember what it was called but it was a powerful experience for me. This conference didn't really focus on subject specific content knowledge but instead turned out to be more of a call to action for all teachers. The essential goal of the conference was to encourage teachers to always seek knowledge, attend relevant conferences, study other teachers, stay current, and find ways to keep that passion for knowledge going.
"Discussion is an exchange of knowledge"-Robert Quillen
During our class discussion on Ball's "The Subject Matter Preparation of Teachers" I enjoyed listening to the various ways students interpreted the text. Although I didn't believe Ball wrote the piece as an attack on teachers, I found it interesting that it could be interpreted that way. I think deep down many teachers have a fear of being tested on his/her content knowledge. Indeed, it is an area that we can only improve on with intrinsic motivation to do so. My initial judgments about the article remained the same but I was able to ask some of my questions to the class and reaffirm my judgments as I found myself agreeing with many of the shared opinions.
"Being realistic is the most common path to mediocrity"-Will Smith
I am interested in a few topics but I have focused my line of inquiry on the impact of technology in the classroom. I am interested in using my classroom and the play "A Raisin in the Sun" to test out a theory. My question is: will the use of technology and multi-media during any given unit increase student test scores and motivate students to complete assignments? I am satisfied with my question because I will have the opportunity to really test it out with a group of about 60 students. I will also be able to re-create units and make them technology driven. Initially I wanted to look at athletes and academic achievement (which I may still look into) to see if students involved in team sports had increased levels of confidence and better test scores or GPA's. When I began researching, I noticed that there was a plethora of research about using technology in the classroom. Many articles argued the pros and cons and some stated that technology in the classroom had no significant impact on student achievement. I am not entirely sure what I can use for an experiential learning source. I have looked into the Computer History Museum, which may be interesting just to check out the history of technology and maybe connect that ever-changing tech world to the need to continue to upgrade teaching techniques.
Responded to the following blogs:
Sheridan Arredondo: http://sheridanarredondo.blogspot.com/
Margaret (Megan) Manley: http://mmanleysmc.blogspot.com/
Karen Vigna: http://karenvigna.blogspot.com/
Hi Eghosa,
ReplyDeleteI agree that pleasure reading can add to your content knowledge, especially in the area of language arts. As you stated, pleasure reading enabled you to expand your vocabulary and critical thinking skills. I think it can also contribute to one's understanding of character development, plot, and even other content areas. Pleasure reading can encourage thinking on so many different levels.
It's interesting that some found the Ball article to be an attack on teachers. I didn't see it that way, but rather as an honest inquiry into the content knowledge of teachers.
Your line of inquiry sounds exciting, especially today with technology being such an integral part of students' daily lives.
Hey, Eghosa!
ReplyDeleteI would personally LOVE to see some studies on the demonstrated efficacy of multimedia as a teaching aid. It's assumed de facto that presenting material in multiple modalities, at least, has benefits, but I also often see teachers or administrators promoting the use of technology seemingly just for the sake of the technology itself. As an admitted technology evangelist, I get a little embarrassed when I see huge budgets being thrown at class sets of iPads and thousand-dollar quiz show systems, with so many SMART boards collecting cobwebs in the classrooms of under-trained teachers. One teacher I know (honest!) had a nice little laptop foisted on her by her department, and she used it to prop up the back edge of her overhead transparency projector. I'll be teaching computer programming next year, but the best technology I discovered this last year was still a pencil box full of dry erase markers and a stack of hand-held white boards from the Dollar store...
Eghosa,
ReplyDeleteYou are posing a very interesting question about technology and learning. More often than not, technology isn't assessed for its impact on student learning. Teachers are often told that technology will engage students and prepare them for the 21st century, without substantial evidence of improved learning. I'm eager to learn more from you as your inquiry unfolds.
In terms of experiential experiences, you might want to view a PBS Frontline film on-line entitled "Growing up Online" (or something like that). You might also want to interview other teachers that feel technology is an effective learning tool or inquire about a possible interview with someone at Apple.