I like the hyperlinks. It's all about options. If you have the time, go for it. Check every link your heart desires. I just wish I had more time to follow them up. I will usually end up reading the post and linking later if time permits.
I think though that linear thinking is important in many areas as a foundation to learning. Kids often enjoy the Bill Nye version of learning - short segments jumping all over the place within a central theme but do they really get it?
The other blogs I investigated were quite interesting. Most looked at investigating the use technology in education. I hope to continue to follow up on these other blogs and see where it takes me.
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You may not enjoy writing, but I find your style engaging.
ReplyDeleteI too, question the Bill Nye style of learning. With so many curriculum expectations, it's hard not to feel as though our students are like the perfect skipping stone; skimming along the surface but not really getting wet! Sometimes I do just throw out the schedule and go for the day-long immersion. Feels good :)
Hey Dr. P,
ReplyDeleteOkay, I love Bill Nye!
I have probably seen every Bill Nye the Science Guy Video. When my children were young, we would scout out the library for the newest Bill Nye Videos.
I love visiting the Halton Safety Village with my class each year in June. They show Bill Nye’s Bicycle helmet safety unit video. I have to stand in the back because the teacher (ME) is laughing so hard from the video, that I get very serious looks from the presenter. Last year, it was a police officer who did the presentation. My students had quite a fun time with me on the long bus ride back to G, with how their teacher was not showing Attentive Listening Skills. The video is extremely hilarious considering the content. When we get back to school, I sometimes share a personal connection with my students that when I was 12, my cousin who was also twelve, died from a serious bike accident. He was not wearing his helmet. I have tried to impress the seriousness of wearing your bike helmet so they will always be as safe as possible.
I digress. I love using 2 minute music/video/film clips to get the students thinking and motivated. My classroom is in a portable, so I find I am now more than ever using my classroom computer to pull up various movie clips/videos. I also use it in my guided reading/writing centres.
Some days the lesson plans don’t always go as planned. Usually those days I find the most fun and I think so do my students.
With reference to the "jumping all over the place" type of learning. Students today are growing up in a different environment than many of us "older" teachers. Their brains are being wired or configured to a different style of learning. They can multi-task better than many adults. That is not to say that we must always teach to this style of learning, but I am suggesting that as effective teachers we must at least recognize it.
ReplyDeleteIf you like your thinking to move less linear or map as you go, check out www.prezi.com.presentation for an intersting way of creating mind map presentations. It ratches up a knotch from a powerpoint presentation.
ReplyDelete