Lessons Learned The Hard Way

Is It All Really Only About Loss of Control and Personal Freedom?

Thinking about and reflecting on the struggle which we all witnesses on TV over the censuring of Representative Paul Gossar in the U. S. Congress, reminded me of my own classroom and what was expected of me as a teacher and of my students and why we had public education in the first place. Public education existed because it was assumed that schools would shape young people into good citizens contributing to the well-being of society on the whole. Good public education stemmed from the concept of the Social Contract as advocated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke. We cede some of our personal freedom in the world to government in exchange for peace, security, prosperity and good government. How does that concept square with the arguments today over what is allowable in society and what we ought to do as a society or as institutions to protect the rights of others and the greater good?

Discipline and High Expectations Lead to Student Self-Control

In the early fall, many were witnesses to the bedlam on the streets of more than a few cities in honour of Homecoming Week on university campuses. There was universal disgust at the distruction and lack of common decency exhibited by the students. These same students then turn around and complain about feeling overwhelmed by their studies and educators have come to expect more than a few mental health issues as a result of the inability to look after themselves. These behaviours stem from a lack of learning how to control behaviour, be responsible for one's self from the time they are little and never having to really face the consequences of their behaviour. In this podcast, I expound on this and relate it back to the classroom and discipline in general.

Catapulting Candy Pumpkins and Being Creative With Problem Based Learning

Some of my best ideas for project work in the classroom with my students over the years has come from things I read in a magazine or book or seen elsewhere and have stolen the idea for teaching purposes.  One such idea I saw recently involved the use of catapults made from found materials to eject candy pumpkins and see how far they can go.  I use this example of a project-based classroom activity to stimulate some thoughts on maximizing student learning in a classroom and the why's and wherefores of problem-based learning.  

 

The Ideal is Blended Learning

Since the start of the pandemic, there is been little choice about learning would take place. It was all online.  But since wireless technology enabled us to think about teaching online and remotely, those of us intimately involved in the use of the technology knew that one drawback of being online was the lack of contact in real time with students.  So for a long time, we have felt that blended learning was the ideal.  This means that while a lot can be accomplished online, it is also good to be together physically.  I did my PhD that way....some courses were done online and others in real time, face-to-face.  Blended learning probably will be the ultimate goal in education because it allows us to do what we need to when it works best for us, but also allows the development of a real personal relationship between teacher and student which is, at the crux, why good teaching happens anywhere and everywhere.

Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom

Teaching with technology has always meant knowing about all the new advances out there and then figuring out how to use them in the classroom.  Some of us were much better than others of us to adapt new technologies and run with them as educators.  Sometimes that meant riding a wave and being a pioneer.  Other times, it was hard to play catch up.  Now the future seems to be pointing towards the greater use of Artificial Intelligence in the classroom.  One can think of many positives that this could mean, but also many negatives. I look at how this technology might look in the classroom and what it might mean for our jobs.

Creating Videos As Culminating Performance Tasks

There was a time when every time a student had to communicate new learning, it had to be using pens, papers, and written language.  A research paper had to be written up.  Project work meant a written report.  End of a unit meant a written test.  That is no longer the case thanks to among other reasons, the work of Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences. We now know there are many ways to demonstrate new learning. In order to enable those many different ways - speeches, drawings, diagrams, videos, interviews, dialogues, plays, music, poetry - we do our best, or we should do our best, to enable students to choose how they want to demonstrate their new learning. So now we call them culminating performance tasks and these can be narrowly defined so that students have to try create in different ways or they  be left to the discretion of the student. I used to try and provide variety for students to choose from. One of the more recent tasks very popular with students is to create a video of some sort. Just think about YouTube, Tik Tok, and so forth.  Students love to create and if they are able to be creative, you will get more from them than if you force them to struggle in the same way each and every time.  

How Do I Use Technology and Be A Guide On The Side?

When we first started to use computers in the classroom, they were big clunky devices that were always against a wall, with the student screens hidden usually from view.  Teachers complained about their students getting into racy or downright disgusting websites.  The result was the use of filters on the desktops that eliminated access to sites as defined by the schools and administrators.  But teachers most often did not walk around and work over the shoulders of their students to help them.  So nothing much was accomplished.  If we want our students to learn about the technology and at the same time, create or research or read specific bits of information, we have to anticipate the questions the students will need the answers to and then walk around and teach individually to the students struggling.  The advent of wireless technology and the growing competency of students with their devices opens up a door to us to become guides on the side working intimately with students as they sit at their desks with their devices.  We need to know what each student is able to do and where we want them to go with their technology. So we have an opportunity to be guides on the side directing students each on their own path just the same way coaches watch their players and work on the skills they need to enhance.  

Ideas For A Virtual Science Fair

Long before we really had computers in our classrooms or I became a consultant, I had to teach science to my junior students.  I came up with a program that I called A Science Celebration to replace the traditional science fair idea.  I made up groups of students from all three grades, rather than one grade only, had packages of challenges for each group based upon one concept like gravity, or light, or colour, or magnetism, for a total of almost 40 different themes. Students had certain components that they had to cover, like an experiment, a research element, a display method and so forth.  They met daily to work together and then we had a single display day when parents came in and viewed the results and the work was assessed by judges.  It was a huge success but now with technology and the ability of students to collaborate across distances, this could be translated into a virtual science fair and, o. m. g., what technology makes possible that no school library could accommodate.  Listen to this podcast with some of the basic ingredients to consider.

Leaving the Old Normal Behind and Riding the Wave Into the Future

This week, there have been repeated references on some of the group distribution  sites I get messages from about what needs to stay the same and what is going to change once we return to a real state of normalcy as the pandemic wanes.  Frequently, these postings highlight or profile practices that have long been features of classrooms everywhere that need to now change as a result of the months spent online and working with students one-on-one.  Many who have lived through the waves of change as we went from stand-alone computers to networks to wireless to personalized electronic devices know what will have to change and what will have to stay the same.  This is what I explore in may podcast posted just now.

The Use of the Webcam in Classrooms After the Pandemic

Long before I became involved in teacher education, I was a consultant for my school board with responsibility for helping teachers and administrators integrate technology into their classroom teaching and management practices. I was phoned one day by a teacher I knew who wondered about using a webcam in his classroom to help a house-bound student participate in classroom activities as a boost to her morale. Naturally, I said it was a great idea and from that day well over 20 years ago, I have been an advocate for using webcams to help bridge distances and isolation and forge emotional and physical links between teachers and students. Since then, the camera technology and software has only gotten better. However, I need to point out that this does not mean each classroom has to have its own studio.  It can be a very simple camera that can be moved around to access different points in the classroom.  I explore some of these things and look at what is in the future of classrooms with cameras enabled.