Can Technology Create Reasons to Celebrate

Ok, in my last blog I offered my 2 cents about how school can be a more rewarding place to be for teachers and students and that was that there needed to be clear points where celebration is possible. That would mean that students would have worked hard to reach a clear benchmark that indicates they have learned something significant and demonstrated it clearly. So can technology make it easier to structure instruction so that these high-five moments are possible? I think so.

Here's a quick example, I work with a teacher who is lucky enough to have a 2-1 ration of students to computers. She started having students create a movie project at the end of each unit where the students had a particular topic that they had to teach through their movie. There is a lot of flexibility on how to go about teaching the topic, but that is their task. She noted that before having students create movies at the end of the unit, there would always be at least 5 students that would fail the end of unit test. On the first unit where students created iMovies (a unit on the atom and the periodic table), no one scored below a 75% on the unit test. What an incredible gain! I think that having no grade below a C on an assessment is a great reason to celebrate!

Ok even more about my love affair with technology and how it improves the classroom environment in my next post! : )

Creating a Reason to Celebrate

Years ago, I was watching Finding Nemo and ventured into the extra features on the DVD. One segment showed the animators as they would work through some part of the process. After days of struggling through a very difficult animated scene, the whole crew would celebrate its completion. The champagne would pop open, and you could see the real joy and sense of accomplishment of the animators because they had struggled and problem-solved through a really tough piece of animation.

As I watched this, I actually got a little depressed. I thought to myself...In my profession (teaching), there are very few moments where you can see the impact that you have had on students, very few milestones where you can celebrate with your students and say, "WhooHoo we did it!" Even though there are numerous objectives that we are asked to teach students, I don't think there is ever a moment in time where you can celebrate that you met it. I think that is unfortunate because it seems to me that the kind of celebration that the Nemo animators had is exactly what we need in education. Students need to see that they are learning, recognize when they've really accomplished something through hard work and perseverance. And when they have these moments we need to celebrate with them.

So I propose that educators think hard about how they can create units, lessons, assignments that aren't just designed to expose kids to content but are well designed with clear and measurable objectives that are difficult to attain. Although they must require a journey to that endpoint, they also most be clearly measurable so that everyone will know the moment that they are met. That way, once either each student or an entire class of students has demonstrated mastery, you can all celebrate together and know that what you have done in the classroom is meaningful, fruitful, and fulfilling.

Next post - how technology along with project based learning can help accomplish this goal!

Thank you First Responders

Just now I was driving down the 805 freeway in San Diego when traffic slowed to a standstill. I heard on the radio that there was an accident and that the right hand lanes were closed ahead. It took about 30 minutes to finally get to the accident. What I saw was horrific. A car was mangled and ripped apart, and a large group of firefighters, EMTs, and police officers were crowded around the injured parties doing all that they could to save them. Being the overly emotional person that I tend to be, I immediately started to cry. I realized that I was crying for the individuals who were fighting for their life but also for how proud I was and how reassured I felt because of the heroic acts of the first responders.

I have had very few opportunities, if any, to interact with EMTs, firefighters, or police officers. Pretty much only when I got tickets in my reckless moments as a youth. I should consider myself lucky that thus far I have not needed their assistance, but that also means that I have never thanked them for all that they do and how safe and protected I feel. I admire them all for their heroism in fighting for the lives of those individuals who find themselves in unfortunate situations everyday, and although I have never needed their assistance, I know that if ever I do they will be there as soon as they can, doing all that they can to save me. They will put their lives and well being on the line to help someone they don't even know. That is incredible to me. I wish I knew a better way to thank them, but having my thank you be the first entry to my blog, was the first thing I though of.

Thank you to all of you out there that fight for our lives and protect us every day! You deserve more thanks and recognition than I could possibly give.

Thank you,
Heidi