Let’s Recap

This is the final blog post I will be completing for CEP810 and it has been quite the adventure. I would go so far as to say it has been one of the most informative education classes I have taken in that most of the content included things I could use or adapt to use in my classroom.

What I’ve learned:

1. The online world contains a vast network of resources. Many much more credible than I ever imagined
2. I am connected digitally to more educationally oriented people than I realized. There are some great networks out there beyond those in my district.
   1. Twitter is a big deal and contains some excellent conversations
      1. #MichEd
      2. #MAET
3. There are free resources that can easily be adapted to what my classroom needs
   1. Trello for making interactive to do lists
   2. Haiku Learning for some supplementary online lessons
4. A potato masher can make a great sandwich. 

(You can read through previous blog posts to find out more about each of these.)

There was a lot of information to acquire over only 7 weeks. I am a little overwhelmed by the possibilities. One of the greatest things about the course that I am going to take into my classroom next year didn’t have as much to do with technology. It was the essence of play. Almost every project we did had an element of fun to it. When we researched something or explored a new website or app we didn’t have everything spelled out for us. We had to figure out the ways to use each new thing as it affected us individually. Some of the wacky assignments made us think more about technology use in the classroom than any lecture or recitation I’ve sat through. As I have worked through this course two goals have emerged.

I want to 1. create a sense of community in my online classroom and 2. add a sense of independence and creative freedom to the assignments I give.

I am still working on setting up a good platform for this. And re-working lesson plans can take some time. It is a daunting class. I know my students will be excited to see that I am working towards a more interactive setup than before, even if it’s not at a fully polished stage.

This won’t happen overnight as I have a lot more to learn.

“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.”

– Aristotle

I am excited to start CEP811 in the fall and continue this delve into the world of technology. Hopefully you will hear from me again 🙂

 

 

Re-purposing Technology… or a Masher

This week in CEP810 we learned about TPACK, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. In Punya Mishra’s video that we watched we learned about the importance of re-utilizing technology and changing its purpose to fit our needs. An example he used was email: we all email ourselves. Whether we want to send a reminder, save a document, or just vent about something almost every person with email has emailed something to themself. Yet, email was not created to send yourself a message. By sending yourself a message, you are repurposing email to fit your specific needs. Similarly, in education, we need to use what we are given, but in such a way that our needs and the needs of the students in our classroom are met. 

To show another analogy of this re-purposing, we were asked to complete a simple task using improper tools – chosen by a family member or friend with no knowledge of the task. My fiance chose a small, glass plate and bowl and a metal potato masher as my utensil. My randomized task: create a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Here is the video of my work:

I used the potato masher to get the peanut butter and jelly from their containers. I could have put them directly on the bread. With no way to spread the components, I would not get a consistent blend of PB&J. So I used to bowl to mix them, rather mash them, together. It was also really fun. My fiance’s words when the recording stopped, “That is disgusting. I would never eat that.” No matter. I did eat the sandwich and it was delicious. 

A masher was not the most efficient way to make a sandwich, but it was the only tool I had. I made it work. As teachers we have to work with what we are given. Often what we are given is wrong, like when we get materials for a new math program that don’t match the text, or when we aren’t given enough materials to go around, or when we have too little technology and more so when we have too much. We change how we use textbooks, “Read this, skip that, and here are some supplementary materials” (Mishra). So why do we feel the need to use technology exactly as it’s given to us? This lesson is about making things work with what you are given, but also completing your task in a unique, creative, and fun way.

Learning Violin Online: The Final Installment

It has been quite the process: learning Disney’s Let It Go for violin using only online tools. As someone who has only recently picked up the violin I was admittedly overwhelmed at the onset of this project. I was also very surprised by the number of resources available and how often they are updated or added to!

The two major sources I used were a YouTube video by Ben Chan, this taught me the song, and a Violin Forum, which I read through to work on basics like holding the violin and technique.

One might ask the purpose of such a lesson in a college master’s program on Education. I know that I did. This project has introduced me to the plethora of decent, usable information available online. It taught me that there is more to the internet than blogs and social media and over-used memes about cats. There is a world of professionals and learners online working toward a productive goal. And as teachers aren’t we trying to grow professionals and life-long learners who work towards a productive goal?

The point of this project slowly evolved from “Look at all the resources your students have access to” into “Wouldn’t it be great if your students could be participants in resources like this?” For example, on the Violin forum, someone would post a question, say they couldn’t reach a note. Within minutes there are multiple responses filled with advice and positive reassurance that the questioner will be successful eventually. Working with my students in an online program, I would LOVE to create a community in which they talked and questioned and learned in the way I have seen of others these past four weeks. I am working to build more community in my classroom and you can read about that in my previous post. I know you’ve all been impatiently awaiting the final video of my first true attempt at violin.

This video begins with where I acquired my information and ends with what I’ve learned. I still have a long way to go in learning violin and in learning this song. I leave this project with a greater awareness of how much information is available online, an excitement to incorporate the professional manner I have witnessed into my own teaching practices (see previous blog), and a better appreciation for those creating video and branching out into the “how to” community.