Friday, November 14, 2008
Embrace Change-Technology is only getting better
I thought about yesterdays class in the computer lab and realized that the technological possibilities in education are endless. I think that it is all up to the educator to try and learn the technology and embrace change. I really feel as a teacher that if you don't, you will be less dynamic in the classroom. I'm not saying that there is no use for traditional methods. I do feel that there are times that you have to lecture and be the "center" of the classroom. However, I believe that your classroom can be much more creative if you make it interactive. In my opinion from what I saw yesterday, web 2.0 has brought this interaction to the forefront and what you can do in education is really in the creative hands of the teacher. As we talked about in class, there are possibilities of online discussions, online tutoring, and even class online. I am wondering if teachers are starting to use these after school hours online resources and what some of the feedback is or would be. I would imagine that most gifted students would embrace this methodology, but most other students would reject the notion of conducting class after hours. However, if the teacher was creative in the way they handled these type of assignments, I think it could work. For example, a teacher might call online discussions for homework or project based assignments or presentations. In these instances, I believe that the students would enjoy the methodology instead of doing traditional "ditto sheets" or "page 24 odd numbers only in your textbooks". It is all very exciting to think about and as for me, I'm ready to embrace change!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Results now
Setting: Faculty Meeting
Role: Principal
As your building principal, I want to welcome you back for the start of a new school year. With each new year, we can look to set new goals for ourselves and for our school. It is a time where both students and teachers can start fresh and look to make a difference. I have thought long and hard this summer about ways of improving our school. This cannot be done alone. I need you all, the teachers, the most important piece in this process to take ownership and try to embrace change. There are certain practices that have gone on in the past that quite frankly have not been effective from both an administrative and teacher standpoint. I am going to read you quotes that I believe have happened in this district and I am going to address the changes that should be made.
1. p.24 "...isolation marks the starkly different results achieved by different teachers. Without any point of comparison, the isolated teacher never has to confront the fact that (1) the teacher next door has three times as effective as I am, or (2) much of my teaching is inferior.
We need to share ideas as teachers to promote what we are doing in our classrooms rather than keeping our methodology private. We can help each other better than any workshop or outside source can in my opinion. Within each department, there needs to be harmony and collaboration rather than privacy and isolation. We can embrace feedback and constructive criticism which will in essence improve every department in our school.
2. p.24 "...isolation ensures that highly unprofessional practices are tolerated and thus proliferate in the name of...professionalism..." what works " morphs easily into what feels good, or keeps kids occupied or, "what I've always done and gotten good evaluations for."
This deals with both our teachers and supervisors. We need to supervise with a purpose and give the necessary feedback in order to improve our teacher's methods. If we as supervisors say nothing and keep teachers in isolation than we are doing a disservice to both the teacher, the student, and the school district. We are in the business of teaching students to think critically instead of trying to teach with the sole purpose of keeping them occupied.
3. p.24 "We have created a system in which generations of talented, hard-working teachers have engaged in inferior practices without receiving feedback that would alert them to this fact."
Once again it comes down to feedback and proper supervision. If I am a teacher that has been giving ditto sheets for my students to work on and stay occupied and have never been talked to about this during supervision, then the teacher is going to continue this ineffective classroom practice. We have isolated ourselves as both teachers and administrators for too long. We need to communicate and know what practices should and should not be used in our school district. There must be leadership and guidance for our teachers. Teachers need to embrace change and take ownership of the process. They should want to share, communicate, and be dynamic for their students.
Role: Principal
As your building principal, I want to welcome you back for the start of a new school year. With each new year, we can look to set new goals for ourselves and for our school. It is a time where both students and teachers can start fresh and look to make a difference. I have thought long and hard this summer about ways of improving our school. This cannot be done alone. I need you all, the teachers, the most important piece in this process to take ownership and try to embrace change. There are certain practices that have gone on in the past that quite frankly have not been effective from both an administrative and teacher standpoint. I am going to read you quotes that I believe have happened in this district and I am going to address the changes that should be made.
1. p.24 "...isolation marks the starkly different results achieved by different teachers. Without any point of comparison, the isolated teacher never has to confront the fact that (1) the teacher next door has three times as effective as I am, or (2) much of my teaching is inferior.
We need to share ideas as teachers to promote what we are doing in our classrooms rather than keeping our methodology private. We can help each other better than any workshop or outside source can in my opinion. Within each department, there needs to be harmony and collaboration rather than privacy and isolation. We can embrace feedback and constructive criticism which will in essence improve every department in our school.
2. p.24 "...isolation ensures that highly unprofessional practices are tolerated and thus proliferate in the name of...professionalism..." what works " morphs easily into what feels good, or keeps kids occupied or, "what I've always done and gotten good evaluations for."
This deals with both our teachers and supervisors. We need to supervise with a purpose and give the necessary feedback in order to improve our teacher's methods. If we as supervisors say nothing and keep teachers in isolation than we are doing a disservice to both the teacher, the student, and the school district. We are in the business of teaching students to think critically instead of trying to teach with the sole purpose of keeping them occupied.
3. p.24 "We have created a system in which generations of talented, hard-working teachers have engaged in inferior practices without receiving feedback that would alert them to this fact."
Once again it comes down to feedback and proper supervision. If I am a teacher that has been giving ditto sheets for my students to work on and stay occupied and have never been talked to about this during supervision, then the teacher is going to continue this ineffective classroom practice. We have isolated ourselves as both teachers and administrators for too long. We need to communicate and know what practices should and should not be used in our school district. There must be leadership and guidance for our teachers. Teachers need to embrace change and take ownership of the process. They should want to share, communicate, and be dynamic for their students.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Reflection of UBD lesson plan
I have to be honest and say that this was the hardest thing for me to do thus far in the class. I guess it is because I have been used to doing things and planning with the objectives first and the assessment last. I just couldn't visualize how I wanted to approach this so what I did which really helped was write it down on a blank template first. I must say that I made many revisions as a result. I will also tell you that I have done this lesson this year and it was very successful. The only thing that I did not do which I included in my submitted lesson was the Biopoem which is something that I do intend to get to.
I think that this whole process was useful for me and is something that I will continue in the future. Starting with an end in mind makes perfect sense to me and is the way I will start approaching my lesson design. The templates were extremely useful and it was easy to follow. This made the process go quite smoothly for me. Also, the online powerpoints were also very informative and gave me a good idea of what I should be doing.
I think that this whole process was useful for me and is something that I will continue in the future. Starting with an end in mind makes perfect sense to me and is the way I will start approaching my lesson design. The templates were extremely useful and it was easy to follow. This made the process go quite smoothly for me. Also, the online powerpoints were also very informative and gave me a good idea of what I should be doing.
UBD Lesson
Understanding By Design Lesson Template
Title of Lesson
Let’s Get Started
Grade Level
7th Grade
Curriculum Area
Spanish I
Time Frame
10 Days
Developed By
Michael Menditto
Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)
Content Standards
7.1 Communication
A. Interpretive Mode (understanding and interpretation of spoken or written communication)
1. Demonstrate comprehension of oral and written instructions connected to daily activities through appropriate responses.
2. Compare and contrast the use of verbal and non-verbal etiquette in the target culture with their own culture in the use of gestures, intonation, and other visual and auditory clues.
§ Eye contact and interpersonal social distance
§ Table manners and telephone practices
3. Discuss people, places, objects, and daily activities based on oral or written descriptions.
§ Grade level appropriate social studies topics (e.g., famous historical and contemporary personalities from the target culture; regions, cities, historical and cultural sites in the target country; events from U.S. history and target culture history from a specific era)
4. Comprehend conversations and written information on a variety of topics.
§ Academic and social interests
§ Current or past issues and events at home or in the target country
B. Interpersonal Mode (direct spoken or written communication)
1. Give and follow a series of oral and written directions, commands, and requests for participating in age-appropriate classroom and cultural activities.
2. Use appropriate gestures, intonation and common idiomatic expressions of the target culture in familiar situations.
3. Engage in short conversations about personal experiences or events, and/or topics studied in other core content areas.
§ Grade level social studies topics (e.g., family celebrations and coming of age customs
Presentational Mode (spoken or written communication for an audience)
1. Present student-created and/or authentic short plays, skits, poems, songs, stories or reports.
§ Grade level appropriate visual and performing arts, language arts and career education (e.g., staging a dramatic presentation of a significant aspect of the life of an important person in the target culture; doing an oral presentation on a famous person, place, or event from target culture supported by research obtained in the target language; creating a visual representation of region or country supported by technological resources and other media
7.2 Culture
A. Interpretive Mode (understanding and interpretation of spoken or written communication)
1. Explain how the attitudes and beliefs (perspectives) of the target culture(s) are reflected in cultural practices.
B. Interpersonal Mode (direct spoken and written communication)
1. Use culturally appropriate etiquette in verbal and non-verbal communication in a variety of social situations.
2. Discuss various elements of age-appropriate, culturally authentic selections and identify how they reflect certain aspects of the target culture.
3. Demonstrate and discuss in some detail observable patterns of behavior and social conventions of the peer group in the target culture(s) and make comparisons with the U.S.
C. Presentational Mode (spoken and written communication for an audience)
1. Present the results of research showing the extent of diversity in products and practices that exist within the target language/culture(s).
2. Prepare an analysis showing how expressive products or innovations of the target culture(s) influence the global community.
New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards- World Languages
http://www.nj.gov/education/cccs/
Understandings
Essential Question(s)
Overarching Understanding
Overarching
1.Compare and Contrast basic conversational skills in both the Spanish and English languages
2 .How to familiarize themselves with another person in the target language.
3. How to function in real life conversation scenarios upon initial meetings.
Topical Questions
1. What is a conversation?
2. What is effective dialogue?
3. What are basic conversational tasks?
4. How can you communicate basic information to one another?
5. How do you differentiate between formal and non-formal dialogue?
1. What elements are essential to a basic start of a conversation with someone else?
2. What is a greeting? Learning someone’s name? Origin? Age? Etc.
3. What are various ways Spanish speakers greet one another in comparison to non-Spanish speakers?
4. How do you greet a peer? How do you greet a parent or elder?
Related Misconceptions
1. Slang versus Formal
2. Verb tenses
3. All Cultures greet each other the same way.
4. Dialects
Knowledge
Students will know…
1. How to understand and demonstrate essential vocabulary. (For example- Me llamo, ¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cómo estás? Adios? ¿De Dónde eres?)
2. How to demonstrate comprehension of oral and written instruction connected to daily activities through responses. (7.1 1a)
3. How to evaluate the use of verbal and non verbal etiquette in the target culture with their own culture through the use of gestures, intonation, and other visual and auditory clues. ( 7.1 2a)
Students will be able to:
1. Understand and follow a series of oral and written directions.
2. Understand appropriate gestures and expressions of the target culture in familiar situations.
3. Illustrate and point out any similarities and difference they notice between greeting styles in Spanish speaking cultures and those in English speaking cultures. 4. Demonstrate their knowledge of the basic conversational vocabulary through the biopoem, cartoon sketch, RAFT Essay and oral presentation.
Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)
Performance Task Description
Goal
You have been asked to create an informal dialogue for Access Hollywood between a Spanish Speaking Actor and an English Speaking Actor.
Role
Actor from a specific target culture
Audience
Target for the Seventh Grade
Situation
Access Hollywood is working with your textbook Avancemos to create audio clips of dialogue for students at the seventh grade level.
Product/Performance
Dialogue, Presentation, Audio Clip
Standards
7.1 and 7.2
Other Evidence
1. BioPoem
2. Presentation
3. Oral Quiz
4. Journal Entry
5. Cartoon Sketch
Learning Plan (Stage 3)
Where are your students headed? Where have they been? How will you make sure the students know where they are going?
My students are headed towards real life communicative exchanges. The students have limited background in the target language from the elementary school level. Students will participate in multiple sensory drills targeted at gaining knowledge of basic conversational questions.
How will you hook students at the beginning of the unit?
Modeling conversational skills involving both informal and formal skills. Also will show video clips and have students listen to audio clips on dialogue.
What events will help students experience and explore the big idea and questions in the unit? How will you equip them with needed skills and knowledge?
I will break the whole lesson into parts. The first part is the model, the second part are taking each question individually and drilling them through think pair-share activities. We will present short demonstration of each question modeling all of the conservational objectives separately.
How will you cause students to reflect and rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing, revising, and refining their work?
Students will be critiqued after each demonstration. Students will change partners frequently to experience different inflection and accent. Students will be asked to make journal entry reflecting on their daily work, where their strengths lie and what areas need to be improved.
How will you help students to exhibit and self-evaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and understanding throughout the unit?
Students will exhibit their skills by making a cartoon sketch and a biopoem using all of the skills that they have learned from the basic objectives of 1. Greeting 2. Name 3. Age 4. Origin and 5. Leave taking expressions.
How will you tailor and otherwise personalize the learning plan to optimize the engagement and effectiveness of ALL students, without compromising the goals of the unit?
Set specific time limits for each objective and continuous drilling in a multi -sensory approach. Read journal entries and give specific comments on where each student can improve.
How will you organize and sequence the learning activities to optimize the engagement and achievement of ALL students?
Help students think how language is structured before they do the activity. Explain why some answers make sense, and why others do not. As part of the introductory dialogue, students will discuss about how they are, where they are from, and as well as their names and ages. It is organized from modeling, to teaching, to student teaching, audio and visual learning and finally through cartoon sketch, biopoem, Raft essay and oral presentation.
From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (ppk)
Title of Lesson
Let’s Get Started
Grade Level
7th Grade
Curriculum Area
Spanish I
Time Frame
10 Days
Developed By
Michael Menditto
Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)
Content Standards
7.1 Communication
A. Interpretive Mode (understanding and interpretation of spoken or written communication)
1. Demonstrate comprehension of oral and written instructions connected to daily activities through appropriate responses.
2. Compare and contrast the use of verbal and non-verbal etiquette in the target culture with their own culture in the use of gestures, intonation, and other visual and auditory clues.
§ Eye contact and interpersonal social distance
§ Table manners and telephone practices
3. Discuss people, places, objects, and daily activities based on oral or written descriptions.
§ Grade level appropriate social studies topics (e.g., famous historical and contemporary personalities from the target culture; regions, cities, historical and cultural sites in the target country; events from U.S. history and target culture history from a specific era)
4. Comprehend conversations and written information on a variety of topics.
§ Academic and social interests
§ Current or past issues and events at home or in the target country
B. Interpersonal Mode (direct spoken or written communication)
1. Give and follow a series of oral and written directions, commands, and requests for participating in age-appropriate classroom and cultural activities.
2. Use appropriate gestures, intonation and common idiomatic expressions of the target culture in familiar situations.
3. Engage in short conversations about personal experiences or events, and/or topics studied in other core content areas.
§ Grade level social studies topics (e.g., family celebrations and coming of age customs
Presentational Mode (spoken or written communication for an audience)
1. Present student-created and/or authentic short plays, skits, poems, songs, stories or reports.
§ Grade level appropriate visual and performing arts, language arts and career education (e.g., staging a dramatic presentation of a significant aspect of the life of an important person in the target culture; doing an oral presentation on a famous person, place, or event from target culture supported by research obtained in the target language; creating a visual representation of region or country supported by technological resources and other media
7.2 Culture
A. Interpretive Mode (understanding and interpretation of spoken or written communication)
1. Explain how the attitudes and beliefs (perspectives) of the target culture(s) are reflected in cultural practices.
B. Interpersonal Mode (direct spoken and written communication)
1. Use culturally appropriate etiquette in verbal and non-verbal communication in a variety of social situations.
2. Discuss various elements of age-appropriate, culturally authentic selections and identify how they reflect certain aspects of the target culture.
3. Demonstrate and discuss in some detail observable patterns of behavior and social conventions of the peer group in the target culture(s) and make comparisons with the U.S.
C. Presentational Mode (spoken and written communication for an audience)
1. Present the results of research showing the extent of diversity in products and practices that exist within the target language/culture(s).
2. Prepare an analysis showing how expressive products or innovations of the target culture(s) influence the global community.
New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards- World Languages
http://www.nj.gov/education/cccs/
Understandings
Essential Question(s)
Overarching Understanding
Overarching
1.Compare and Contrast basic conversational skills in both the Spanish and English languages
2 .How to familiarize themselves with another person in the target language.
3. How to function in real life conversation scenarios upon initial meetings.
Topical Questions
1. What is a conversation?
2. What is effective dialogue?
3. What are basic conversational tasks?
4. How can you communicate basic information to one another?
5. How do you differentiate between formal and non-formal dialogue?
1. What elements are essential to a basic start of a conversation with someone else?
2. What is a greeting? Learning someone’s name? Origin? Age? Etc.
3. What are various ways Spanish speakers greet one another in comparison to non-Spanish speakers?
4. How do you greet a peer? How do you greet a parent or elder?
Related Misconceptions
1. Slang versus Formal
2. Verb tenses
3. All Cultures greet each other the same way.
4. Dialects
Knowledge
Students will know…
1. How to understand and demonstrate essential vocabulary. (For example- Me llamo, ¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cómo estás? Adios? ¿De Dónde eres?)
2. How to demonstrate comprehension of oral and written instruction connected to daily activities through responses. (7.1 1a)
3. How to evaluate the use of verbal and non verbal etiquette in the target culture with their own culture through the use of gestures, intonation, and other visual and auditory clues. ( 7.1 2a)
Students will be able to:
1. Understand and follow a series of oral and written directions.
2. Understand appropriate gestures and expressions of the target culture in familiar situations.
3. Illustrate and point out any similarities and difference they notice between greeting styles in Spanish speaking cultures and those in English speaking cultures. 4. Demonstrate their knowledge of the basic conversational vocabulary through the biopoem, cartoon sketch, RAFT Essay and oral presentation.
Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)
Performance Task Description
Goal
You have been asked to create an informal dialogue for Access Hollywood between a Spanish Speaking Actor and an English Speaking Actor.
Role
Actor from a specific target culture
Audience
Target for the Seventh Grade
Situation
Access Hollywood is working with your textbook Avancemos to create audio clips of dialogue for students at the seventh grade level.
Product/Performance
Dialogue, Presentation, Audio Clip
Standards
7.1 and 7.2
Other Evidence
1. BioPoem
2. Presentation
3. Oral Quiz
4. Journal Entry
5. Cartoon Sketch
Learning Plan (Stage 3)
Where are your students headed? Where have they been? How will you make sure the students know where they are going?
My students are headed towards real life communicative exchanges. The students have limited background in the target language from the elementary school level. Students will participate in multiple sensory drills targeted at gaining knowledge of basic conversational questions.
How will you hook students at the beginning of the unit?
Modeling conversational skills involving both informal and formal skills. Also will show video clips and have students listen to audio clips on dialogue.
What events will help students experience and explore the big idea and questions in the unit? How will you equip them with needed skills and knowledge?
I will break the whole lesson into parts. The first part is the model, the second part are taking each question individually and drilling them through think pair-share activities. We will present short demonstration of each question modeling all of the conservational objectives separately.
How will you cause students to reflect and rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing, revising, and refining their work?
Students will be critiqued after each demonstration. Students will change partners frequently to experience different inflection and accent. Students will be asked to make journal entry reflecting on their daily work, where their strengths lie and what areas need to be improved.
How will you help students to exhibit and self-evaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and understanding throughout the unit?
Students will exhibit their skills by making a cartoon sketch and a biopoem using all of the skills that they have learned from the basic objectives of 1. Greeting 2. Name 3. Age 4. Origin and 5. Leave taking expressions.
How will you tailor and otherwise personalize the learning plan to optimize the engagement and effectiveness of ALL students, without compromising the goals of the unit?
Set specific time limits for each objective and continuous drilling in a multi -sensory approach. Read journal entries and give specific comments on where each student can improve.
How will you organize and sequence the learning activities to optimize the engagement and achievement of ALL students?
Help students think how language is structured before they do the activity. Explain why some answers make sense, and why others do not. As part of the introductory dialogue, students will discuss about how they are, where they are from, and as well as their names and ages. It is organized from modeling, to teaching, to student teaching, audio and visual learning and finally through cartoon sketch, biopoem, Raft essay and oral presentation.
From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (ppk)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Go with the Flow
Please click the above link to view video clip.
Go with the Flow
(smaller file size)
(smaller file size)
This project was fun to do. I could see myself doing this again in the future.
I thought it was going to be much more difficult, but as a result of the process, I learned how to upload a video. I think this would be a great teaching tool and excellent project for my students.
I thought it was going to be much more difficult, but as a result of the process, I learned how to upload a video. I think this would be a great teaching tool and excellent project for my students.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Did You Know?
Wow, this was a very powerful presentation. Technology has obviously changed our world in so many ways. Just in the last 10 years itself, technology has completely transformed our global landscape. I love presentations of this nature because they share so many interesting statistics. By the age of 21, the average student has spent over 10,000 hours on the phone and sent over 250,000 emails. This number blows my mind because you don't realize how these hours add up over the years. Also, how early children start using computers is amazing. I think that they said that 70% of all 4 year olds have used a computer in some capacity. Also, it was interesting that many recently married couples have met each other online. This would have never happened 20 years ago. Also, thinking about how many internet searches that are performed daily are also astounding. The fact that many students have their own facebook, myspace, and blogs is also very interesting. I know that most of my students connect with their friends daily on these social-networking sites.
An alarming thought is that the human brain is being overtaken by the computer. A 1,000 dollar computer will exceed the production of the human race and the human brain. There is great shift in this dynamic. It is also interesting to see that there is a great turnover rate for jobs in our society. It seems normal to go from job to job now whereas years ago people prided themselves in longevity. It is wild to think that by the age of 38 people will have had 14 jobs. I have been with the same school district for 14 years and I think that this is rare in today's competitive job market. People are more motivated by extrinsic factors rather than intrinsic. It is just different altogether in my opinion. Students are equipped with the ability to connect any where in the world through a computer or cell phone, but I worry if this doesn't bring about some negative ramifications. I know that technology is cutting edge and great, but I think that some of our students today are lacking personal skills. Students sit behind their computers and phones to communicate everything now and they are missing out on face to face communication which is obviously the best indication of the tone of the communication. I'm not saying that they should not use this technology, but what I am saying is that we better watch out that we are not creating a society of robots. We need to value and keep stressing the human interaction and perspective along with these technologically advancements.
An alarming thought is that the human brain is being overtaken by the computer. A 1,000 dollar computer will exceed the production of the human race and the human brain. There is great shift in this dynamic. It is also interesting to see that there is a great turnover rate for jobs in our society. It seems normal to go from job to job now whereas years ago people prided themselves in longevity. It is wild to think that by the age of 38 people will have had 14 jobs. I have been with the same school district for 14 years and I think that this is rare in today's competitive job market. People are more motivated by extrinsic factors rather than intrinsic. It is just different altogether in my opinion. Students are equipped with the ability to connect any where in the world through a computer or cell phone, but I worry if this doesn't bring about some negative ramifications. I know that technology is cutting edge and great, but I think that some of our students today are lacking personal skills. Students sit behind their computers and phones to communicate everything now and they are missing out on face to face communication which is obviously the best indication of the tone of the communication. I'm not saying that they should not use this technology, but what I am saying is that we better watch out that we are not creating a society of robots. We need to value and keep stressing the human interaction and perspective along with these technologically advancements.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Pink
I really believe that Pink brings up some great points in his book. I think that we as educators must encourage our students to think freely and be creative. We must encourage our students to cross boundaries and try to see the bigger picture. So very often as teachers we are burdened with time constraints and may not be able to do enough creative teaching as we would like. We do have pressure to get results quickly which is sometimes why we are spitting facts out to our students so that they will be able to pass state-mandated tests. Also, with NCLB teachers may be afraid to be more creative because they are often stifled by teaching to the test.
I believe that testing is here to stay and we must not take this lightly. However, it is our job as educators to make are students critical thinkers. You can definitely still teach your curriculum so that students can pass the state tests while incorporating Pink's ideas in my opinion. We need to do more interdisciplinary projects that will help our students see why all their subjects are important and how they connect. You always hear students say, "What am I going to need this for?" Well a perfect way to show this is to cross boundaries in teaching and show how it relates to our global society.
We are in a vastly changing world where are students are going to have to be prepared to think on their feet. Some students innately have these skills, but for others it is a learned process. As educators, we must start this training at a very young age. We must find connections in the curriculum for students and relate them to other aspects of their lives. This way we will have not given our students a "tunnel vision" approach to the learning, but rather a broad spectrum of creative ideas and knowledge.
I believe that testing is here to stay and we must not take this lightly. However, it is our job as educators to make are students critical thinkers. You can definitely still teach your curriculum so that students can pass the state tests while incorporating Pink's ideas in my opinion. We need to do more interdisciplinary projects that will help our students see why all their subjects are important and how they connect. You always hear students say, "What am I going to need this for?" Well a perfect way to show this is to cross boundaries in teaching and show how it relates to our global society.
We are in a vastly changing world where are students are going to have to be prepared to think on their feet. Some students innately have these skills, but for others it is a learned process. As educators, we must start this training at a very young age. We must find connections in the curriculum for students and relate them to other aspects of their lives. This way we will have not given our students a "tunnel vision" approach to the learning, but rather a broad spectrum of creative ideas and knowledge.
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