A few years ago, when my daughter was little, she asked me, "Hey mom, why do you like being a teacher?"
I told her it was because I liked motivating kids. She then said, "Oh, I thought it was because you like teaching." I realized what gets me up in the morning is not that I'm going to teach kids, it's that feeling we get when we see their faces light up when they get something, or when they discover the answer that nobody can find, thats why I love being a teacher. Motivation to learn something starts in the social or cultural context. Humans say, whats in it for me? I want to learn this because.... its going to help me do this job faster, I'm going to learn how to record the superbowl, or this tool will help me analyze my budget, what ever it is, it all starts with the learners interest and their motivation. I liked what the SITE model states about how sometimes we don't formulate goals until we realize theres a possible way into them. The SITE model article gives the example of the man walking around hardware store and considers installing solar heating when he realizes how easy it can be done by just seeing a demonstration. I loved this line, "Human beings are not just problem-solvers but seekers and exploiters of opportunities..." We need to understand the context of the learner, so that we can empower them. In the SITE model outline, I learned the major factors that are connected to the learner and that designers need to consider when designing a product. The sociocultural subcontext, which considers the learner's motives and goals. The Technical subcontext, which looks at the ways, tools, or techniques the learner can use to feel empowered and achieve their goals. The Informational subcontext, the skills and knowledge learners will need to access the information as literacy and mediacy. Learning this, made me think of how our education system is evolving. When I was young in elementary school, we would copy pages and pages of math problems, yet when asked to do a problem in real life, we couldn't because we needed paper or we couldn't do it because it wasn't set up in a perfect way like in the books. Same with the spelling tests, we used to do these long lists of spelling tests thinking we would become better spellers and writers. Now we have realized that if we can teach the different patterns and rules, spelling becomes easier. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that the model of teaching in "one way fits all" is no longer possible. Everybody is at different levels, we all have different interests, skills and motives in life. There is more competition in everything, we need to train learners to be able to use and transfer skills in all directions. We are not giving the kids the fish, we are teaching them how to fish.
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In Spanish we have a saying, " La Union Hace la Fuerza" it similarly translates to "United We Stand Stronger". This is something I truly believe. I feel that in order to bring change into our classrooms and our schools, the change begins with the teachers, we are the ones on the front line. Therefore I assertively say that my most important audience for the remaining part of my course are my colleagues. My research was based on students developing ownership of their learning through goal setting. Students are not going to be able to become responsible and set their own goals from one day to the next. Through the readings of Clark, I came to the understanding that student responsibilities and ownership evolve through instructional systems development. Where we as teachers plan, develop and evaluate the trainings. Just as companies invest in their employees to receive top of the line training to help the company run smooth and effectively, we as teachers need to to the same with our students by carefully and strategically planning their instruction. At the moment, my students and I, are exploring and playing with different tech tools. I ask myself many questions: Will this tool meet the needs of my students different learning styles? How can this tools help teachers become more efficient? Is this tool supporting learning, or is it only a fancy pen? How can we think outside the box, and still meet the standards? Which tech tools work better and provide opportunities to develop student agency? I want to create a resource for teachers in which we use technology tools to develop a new culture at our school. A new culture in which teachers work smarter, not harder, and students drive their learning and become owners of their challenges and accomplishments. |
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May 2018
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