In this video he talks a lot about how the web is changing the world. What I mean by this is he is showing us how we are now able to find any picture we want due to websites like flicker. If we want to find photos of Milwaukee we will not just get professional photos returned in our google searches. We will now get photos taken by armatures or everyday people who have then tagged the photo as Milwaukee. Peoples professional photos are now for everyone to share with each other. He also made a similar example with blogs and the public media. Blogs are a place where you can write something and everyone can read it. You no longer need to have a journalism degree to write about something and have everyone read it. I agree the world is changing. I wonder how schools will change in the future. I would like to see what it is like to teach in an online school. I am not sure if it would be for me though. I really enjoy my interactions with the kids everyday and it would be different in an online school.
How cognitive surplus will change the world
The general idea I got out of this video was that when people find something they are interested in, they will work hard at it. In the past people were couch potatoes but that was because they were not given the opportunity to help someone else. Through online resources we are able to track and work together on global problems. This will help everyone have one place to go and work as a larger community to solve issues. Together they can work and change the world.
Cooperative Learning
In my classroom I use many different variations of cooperative learning. For example, we have something called clock partners. This is when the kids can get in partners based on a time. We roll the dice and whatever time it lands on is who you are a partner with. The kids then usually end up working on review problems and activities together. They really enjoy working with one another and also enjoy the randomness of the partner.
One thing I would like to do is to incorporate a way to have my kids interact and work with kids from another classroom. Maybe even a classroom in another school through virtual learning and activities. I am not sure how I could do this and still incorporate all of my math learning targets. This would be something I could investigate online schools to see how they do it.
Reinforcing Effort
I lack at reinforcing effort other than grades. I think grades are one way to give kide credit for all their work. However, sometimes one kid will work harder than a different kid, but have the same grade. I know one of my coworkers does a students skills grade. In this grade, she gives kids a point each day for if they bring all of their supplies to class. This reinforces bringing what you need to class and gives you credit for doing so. However, if they forget a supply or need to get something out of their locker, they will lose the point for that day. I think this would be a good idea in my classroom. However, I would like another way to recognize kids. I can also start to use more certificates for rewards or e-mails home. These are easy to do, but the kids enjoy it so much more!
Reinforcing Effort
I lack at reinforcing effort other than grades. I think grades are one way to give kide credit for all their work. However, sometimes one kid will work harder than a different kid, but have the same grade. I know one of my coworkers does a students skills grade. In this grade, she gives kids a point each day for if they bring all of their supplies to class. This reinforces bringing what you need to class and gives you credit for doing so. However, if they forget a supply or need to get something out of their locker, they will lose the point for that day. I think this would be a good idea in my classroom. However, I would like another way to recognize kids. I can also start to use more certificates for rewards or e-mails home. These are easy to do, but the kids enjoy it so much more!
Crystal, as you saw when you commented on my Reinforcing Effort section of my blog, I too had difficulty with this concept. I believe that I reinforce efforts by telling people that they are doing a great job. I really don't have a concrete way of completing this task and I think that the distinction between this concept and the Providing Recognition concept from previous week's reading assignment. I make sure that I give all of my subordinates good feedback in public (in the bullpen with coworkers around) to show that I appreciate their work and dedication. But this is also referred to as "informal recognition" by us military types. Basically, don't wait until the end-of-the-tour award to let your people know that they are doing a good job. I think that I accomplish the spirit of Reinforcing Effort, I just don't see a clear distinction between it the Recogniton piece.
ReplyDeleteActually, to clarify... I have the issue with the distinction, based on your blog (second read) you seem to have it down!
ReplyDelete