Blog Assignment #5

If I Built A School

Krissy Venosdale is a GiftedEd teacher who teaches grades three through six. She says that she hopes to inspire kids to reach for the stars. I imagine she can do that and much more. Ms. Venosdale seems very passionate about her job and her students. She is very inspiring to me as a future teacher, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her blog. Her blog post If I Built A School was an inspiring post that Krissy Venosdale wrote about a dream school. She describes every aspect of the perfect school from the neon sign at the front entrance to the parking spaces for teachers with signs decorated by students. This perfect school would be overflowing with creativity. The library would host a tree house in a huge tree, an art room that looks like a studio, and a cafeteria that looks and feels like a coffee shop. Ms. Venosdale's dream school would not have typical grade levels but a system where students advanced based on their personal readiness and abilities. Integrating technology into the classroom would not be a process but a daily event. Students would use laptops, iPads, tablets, and even cellphones with the focus being placed on how and when to use these pieces of technology. In this perfect school, students would learn because they love learning and teachers would enjoy teaching. While Ms. Venosdale's dream school is far from reality, she has ideas that definitely should be implemented in schools today. Schools should inspire students to be creative through the regular curriculum.

If I could build a school, it would not have all the bells and whistles of Ms. Venosdale's dream school. However, it would incorporate the main idea behind Ms. Venosdale's dream school. My school would be confortable, intriguing, and inviting. It would be an environment where students arrived every day ready and willing to learn. My school would have comfortable chairs around tables for students to sit in during class. The library would not have a huge tree house, but it would be inviting. The cafeteria would be cozy with the same coffee shop feeling as Ms. Venosdale's dream school. Teachers and students would be technology literate, and using technology would be an everyday part of the curriculum. If I had to build a school, it would be nice to have all the modern conveniences. However, the main focus in building my school would be to establish a student-teacher relationship where students can take a more active role in their education. Teachers would be passionate about their jobs and would let students have a certain input into the daily activities and curriculum.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

Eric Whitacre's The Virtual Choir was amazing to listen to. The choir consisted of 185 people from 12 countries who had never met or performed together before. The fact that these people never practiced together and never had to leave home to create this piece was incredible. I had no idea something like this could be put together over the internet. His virtual choir shows that the possibilities are endless when working with technology. There is always something knew to learn about the uses of technology. The use of the internet and being able to use technology to allow so many different people to perform a beautiful piece was inspiring. Listening to the story was very interesting. Listening to how he put the piece together by having people record their individual parts on Youtube and then editing it so that everybody's video started at the same time was a great use of the internet. The singers' videos were edited, and they sang in perfect unison. This was a wonderful and inspiring use of technology and the internet.

Teaching in the 21st Century

Kevin Roberts believes that students should not be passive learners. He thinks that students should be actively engaged in learning. Technology such as cellphones, laptops, and iPads can be used in the classroom just as paper and pencils are used in the classroom. Students know how to use Google as a search engine, but Kevin Roberts believes that students need to be able to put this information together and synthesize data. Students have the skills to find the required information. They need to be taught how to relate data and process the information they find. Technology should no longer be used just for entertainment but now should be used to engage students in learning. Engaging students in learning will lead to long-term success and will help students solve problems. Teachers are to provide students with meaningful information. Kevin Roberts thinks that to teach 21st century knowledge, teachers need to engage students in learning. They also need to constantly think of new ways they could better engage students in 21st century skills, and gather information from other people. Do not be afraid to take risks.

As a future teacher, I agree with a lot of the information in the video. Students will learn more if they are engaged in learning. My job as a teacher is not to entertain students but to engage them in the learning process. As a future educator, I will definitely use technology in my classroom. My job will be not to teach my students how to use technology but to help my students use technology to relate and organize data. Some of the questions asked in the video such as, "Should I rent or buy? What's the best credit card deal for me?" would be great questions to incorporate into my math lessons. Teaching students how to manage money and calculate interest rates would be great not only in the classroom but also in the real world.

Flipped Classroom

At first, I struggled with the idea of flipping the classroom. When I watched the video Why I Flipped My Classroom, I did not imagine that it would work. How would students be motivated to watch these videos, or what if some students could not access these videos outside the classroom? However, the idea makes sense. This is another way of assigning homework to students. Instead of having students work ten math problems, they now watch a video of the lecture. Now, the teacher has the time to see that all students have their needs met. She can work with the students who cannot grasp certain concepts, and she can challenge students who are ahead. I could use this idea in my classroom because students would be able to learn the material before coming to class. Then, I could answer questions and better expand on their knowledge.

As a future teacher, I am slightly concerned about student access and students not doing their work. If students do not complete the assigned material, they could do it at the beginning of class. However, students would then be missing out on the material being discussed at the beginning of class. Overall, flipping the classroom is an interesting idea. It would be a great way for students to be engaged in learning and would also allow parents to be involved in their child's education. Hopefully this idea will allow students to take learning to a whole new level. By learning the information outside of class, teachers would now have the time to teach students how to apply this knowledge in a real world setting.