Apr
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My first official post: What are we teaching them for?
April 2, 2007 | | 2 Comments
A few months ago I decided that I would be writing my Masters Capstone paper on Blogging in the classroom. A few people asked me why I would choose that instead of a topic on classroom management or developing some sort of a strategy to teach grammar to my ESL students. At first I couldn’t put my opinions and thoughts to words, or at least words that didn’t really confuse or rub other teachers the wrong way. It took me some time to put together a sales pitch for my idea. While driving to work one day I finally put together my sales pitch and I was pretty proud of it. That same day though I saw a video posted on Christian Longs blog think:lab and it really does a good job explaining my reasons for choosing this as topic.
Aside from the cheesy music it really made me think about what we are teaching our students for. Often I feel like our students are trying to be succesful in what ever class they happen to be sitting in. When, in reality, they need to be able to make connections between their classes and their lives. We need to teach them the skills to view themselves and the world through a critical and creative lens…past, present, and future. They are the composers and ambassadors of not just our culture but our future as well. They need to to know how to be effective and responsible on a global level by connecting them, not hiding, them from their world.
My classes have successfully used blogs in the past and the students really took to them. Over the next few months I plan on having each student manage their own class blogs. Each blog will, among other things, be used to complete assignments and make the critical connections between their classroom and their lives. Please feel free to share you ideas and insights in the comment box bellow.
Comments
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John, this is really cool. It is much bigger than blogging in your classroom. It has to do with bridging the gap between learning and the lives of each student. It has to do with bringing technology into your classroom and the experience you want them to have. It also has to do with motivation, passion and cultivating a love of learning. I recently read a book (being the educational nerd I am), by Dennis Littky titled The Big Picture. When I read your blog I remember a line from that book which I feel relates to your concept “nothing you hand a kid to learn will be as important as what’s already inside them”. It would seem that blogging will allow students a safe haven to create, take risks and express themselves. It will be interesting to follow as you proceed with your research. Good Luck.
I found the film very engaging and inspiring. One of the real focus areas that I noticed was that we MUST teach kids HOW to learn and technology is a huge part of that.