So I just spent a couple hours exploring various K12 conferences on-line. Some I found to be very boring and unrelated to me. Then I found a great video that really captured my attention. This video was from the 2008 archives and it was entitled "Web 2.0 Tools to Amplify Students Creativity and Initiative." More specifically it was geared towards students 8-12 and since I am an elementary teacher I thought that this would be perfect for me. This video was basically an overview for something called Creative Tools for Kids and By Kids. Students were able to choose a topic of interest to them and create web presentations about their topics using interactive avatars of themselves that they created. They even used microphones to talk into the computers so that there avatars had their voices. This video stressed a lot about Internet safety for students and how the use of avatars helped protect their identities. I thought that this idea was very smart, creative and just really cool. I even went on the site afterwards and played around with creating my own avatar. There are so many different choices as to what your avatar can look like. This is great because it allows students to customize an avatar to reflect themselves and their own personal style. I was then able to listen to the students talk about their opinions about this project and what they believed the purpose of it was. As I watched this video I kept thinking to myself, "wow I want to try this with my students" and isn't that what this is all about? I am in grad school to become more educated and learn new practices for teaching. I am in this technology class to help me learn how to incorporate technology more into my classroom. Well watching this video has exposed me to a new and exciting project to try with my students.
At one point during the video they displayed a saying that Confucious said:
I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand
I find this motto to be a very powerful and thought provoking statement. As a teacher it made me stop and think about how much I talk "at" my students and just expect them to understand and learn verses how much I talk "with" my students and listen to them while they explore and problem solve. I am a firm believer that as an educator it's my job to prepare my students for life by teach them how to work collaboratively, think and problem solve. I don't expect them to remember every little thing that I teach them for the rest of their lives. What I hope for is that I have motivated my students to want to learn and think. I want my students to be intrigued by learning and want to challenge themselves and their minds. I want them to be able to problem solve and know what strategies they need to use to be successful learners thus making them successful members of society one day. If I can provide that for my students then I do believe that I have done my job as an educator. Remembering Confucious's words will help me remember how to reach my goal as a teacher.
I highly recommend this video for teachers to watch. Click the link below and it will bring you to the main web page for this project and the K12 video is on there to view also.
http://weewebwonders.pbworks.com/w/page/9067396/FrontPage
Hi Kara,
ReplyDeleteI know your students will enjoy creating an avatar and learning/teaching through their creation. I am not sure that my high schoolers would be receptive to that, but one never knows, so I will view the video soon.
One thing I do understand to be true is the quote you mentioned by Confucius :
I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand
I often think about this saying since I teach at a technical high school; the majority of my students are "hands on learners", so I take every opportunity that I can to have them "do" whenever possible for a more meaningful learning experience. They might outline a character's personality through say-- " loading their virtual Ipod with songs that a particular character might listen to" right after drawing a character sketch wheel out on the board and/ or defining character traits together. They really have to think about the character's life, goals, past experiences, growth, etc. in order to choose those songs. The students might go online and get pertinent lyrics when creating their " playlist". They are also required to make meaning from the songs they chose-- explain them to the class. When they have to write an essay following this assignment, the details just stay with them longer; far more than a lecture from me would have done regarding a character's traits, motivations, etc.