I really enjoyed the articles reference to Leo Lionni's, "Fish is Fish." As an elementary school teacher, I love finding connections with young literature. The article alludes that a student's perception must be changed by first hand interactions. The frog in the story expects that the fish will understand everything he tells him about the outside world. However, the fish's perceptions are based on what he knows, and that's it. We must give our students 1st hand experiences with new concepts so that they can form new perceptions or alter their existing perceptions to match what they have learned. I would like to use this metaphor with my introductory education students. It's a good way to show how our teaching should affect our students.
In addition, we, as teachers, should use our students' strengths to their advantage. The generation of students that attend our schools today are tech-savvy and ready for technological challenges. How can we use our students' strengths in technology to get them involved in their learning at school. Here are some things I'm thinking, and I'd like to look more into:
- podcasting
- social networking (facilitated solely through a school)
- e-books
- video editing (to create authentic products?)
- SKYPE, distance learning
- email (pen pals...?)
The world of technology is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Is there a way where we can find more time for professional development in this field? I feel that a lot more teachers would use technological advances to benefit their instruction if they had specialized training on how to use it! I know it's out there. It's just finding the time and resources to do it. This should be a goal of our educational system. We need to connect to our students. We need to allow them to express themselves in a variety of modes. Their creativity should be allowed to grow, not hindered by our standards-based reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment