EDLD 5364 Week 4 Reflection

I’m not sure I have ever been as depressed about what I do for a living as I am right now. After watching the videos this week that focus on project based learning I feel like we are stuck on a sinking ship here in Texas. We are so test focused that I feel like we will never be able to give to our students what I hear the educators on the videos talking about. That frustrates and frightens me. I would love to be able to assign my eighth graders the task of going onto the internet and researching Thomas Jefferson but I know that isn’t a realistic possibility. Half of my students wouldn’t even try. Another fourth would just copy someone else’s research and stick their name on it. Seriously, perhaps 25% of my students would get anything at all out of project based instruction. They have been so forcefully crammed into the multiple choice standardized test box that they can’t or won’t think for themselves.

This week I had nine students out of twenty in one class who turned in the exact same assignment. I was absent the day it was due and they convinced the substitute to let them work on the assignment in class. Nine of them ended up with the exact same wording on the project. Unfortunately for them, the girl they copies had tried to spice up her assignment by using out of the ordinary words. (I’m not as stupid as they think I am!) Now I have nine students who will fail this grading period because a zero on a major grade assignment is pretty hard to recover from.

That wasn’t even the saddest part of the story. When I confronted them one boy said, “I didn’t cheat!” and I said, “Then you let someone cheat off you.” His reply, “Oh, ok then.” Another one, rather than being embarrassed or concerned, asked if I could “prove” they cheated. I wish I had stuck to a regular online test. At least that way I can lock it down, turn on the “randomize the questions” option and have some comfort level that they might actually do their own work.

And although I work at a school with a 1:1 program, it was actually suggested a couple of months ago that we should start giving paper tests so that our students would be familiar with a hard copy social studies test when they have to take the STAAR test at the end of April. I feel like I have gone back in time while the rest of the world moves forward. I have never seen the kind of enthusiasm the children on the videos all had for learning in any class in any school I have taught at and it breaks my heart that, with all the possibilities available to our kids, we are still breaking their spirit with standardized testing.

EDLD 5364 Week 3 Reflection

This has been a very frustrating week. I started out having to finish last week early because I was taking 23 8th graders to Washington DC and New York City for four days over spring break. Finishing early normally wouldn’t be a problem but when you’re working in a team, the rest of the team is then thrown into overdrive right alongside you. Then I got back from the trip exhausted and had company show up from out of town. It was great to see them but it really put me behind for the week. In the midst of that I’m still recovering from hand surgery six weeks ago and have limited use of and no feeling in my right index finger which makes typing an adventure, to say the least.

That, however, was not the worst of the frustration. One of our group just isn’t doing their part. This isn’t the first project or the first class we’ve worked together in and we are seeing a definite pattern forming. With each assignment the issue becomes more and more apparent. We’ve done everything we can think of to coerce them into contributing more but at this point we realize we can only do so much. The solution…next time there is a group project we just say, “No thanks, we have all the help we need.”

I tell all that to say, isn’t it funny that at almost 50 years old we still have trouble dealing with group projects? My students hate group work for exactly the same reason. And I remember my daughter going to a teacher once just before a “group” presentation and telling the teacher that only her name would be on the PowerPoint because the other two students didn’t do anything. She told the teacher that she would gladly put their names back on the project if either one of them could tell even one thing they had contributed. Kate got an ‘A’ they got nothing! I was so proud of her. That’s why she’s going to be running the show one day! We expect 8th graders to know how to handle these situations and yet we don’t know how to do it either. I never expected the group aspect of my grad work to be the issue. That’s kind of funny to me. On the other hand, I can’t imagine doing this project on my own. It is so good to have one partner who not only thinks like me and has a similar sense of humor but who is always willing to go the extra mile. Thanks, partner!

EDLD 5364 Week 2 Reflection

The effectiveness of technology on learning can be argued from every side with validity to every point, both positive and negative. Even one of the most frequently asked question, “Is it worth the price?” can be answered with a very firm “yes” and an equally firm “no.” If we were to ask the parent of an average student with an average IQ who has a good work ethic and enjoys the self-esteem boost that good grades bring and who has access to the internet at home, the answer might be “no.” That student may not benefit a great deal from many of the opportunities available other than making research material more readily available and convenient. However, the parent of a dyslexic child might disagree. Something as simple as the text-to-speech tool available in Word can make the difference in their child struggling in school and taking so much time to complete a homework assignment that school becomes a dreaded chore that consumes the child’s every waking moment and their child being able to complete an assignment in a reasonable amount of time and having time to enjoy life. Those of us that don’t have a disability can never really appreciate the impact that technology can have on the quality of life of some individuals.

Children who grow up in poverty already have a great many strikes against them. Making technology available in the classroom may be the best chance many low socioeconomic status children have to even the playing field, thus giving them a better chance for a successful future. Children with disabilities, low IQs, high IQs, gifted children, those who are curious or even shy can benefit from a computer and the many available programs and applications on the Web. I suppose you could say that technology has something for everyone, regardless of age, intelligence, or ability…there’s even something for that average, middle of the road student I first mentioned.

EDLD 5364 Week 1 Reflection

As I learn more about the learning theories, Constructivism and Connectivism, this week I realized that I am a Connectivist. I believe we learn better if we can connect the new information to other aspects of our life. For instance, when teaching the Declaration of Independence for the first time I compare it to going home and telling your mother that you are no longer a part of the family. Most students agree that that proclamation would be met with, ”Over your dead body!” through their mother’s clenched teeth. Unfortunately, Constructivism isn’t always successful because each student brings with him a different level of prior knowledge upon which to build. Economically disadvantaged students seem to be the most negatively impacted.

I won’t even address the Cyborg theory because it so completely freaked me out! I’m pretty sure that was a story line on Star Trek: The Next Generation and it did not end well for mankind.