Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts- Special Post #12A

I do not believe that these schools systematically destroy or inhibit the development of curiosity and creativity. I think most schools strive to gain/maintain control and, in doing so, they crush anything that might exist from those to elements. 

Most schools think that by establishing an unbreakable, set curriculum and forcing standardized tests in every other month, they somehow can force children into a better intelligence and higher grades. By inhibiting the growth of curiosity through strict courses of study, schools are also eliminating any chance of creativity. I absolutely believe that you can create a curriculum that will increase the curiosity of students. We can give them a choice in what, or how, to study a certain subject, it will help ignite curiosity because they had a chance to choose what they're interested in. By giving them a subject and giving them two ways to approach this subject, they get to decide what they study.

For instance, you can give a classroom the option to either use a SmartBoard presentation along with an assignment involving making a video to go along with the presentation. The second option would be creating a presentation using Prezi after learning the curriculum via videos online plus supplemental info from their textbooks.

I think a teachers actions have everything to do with increasing the curiosity of students. The teacher has to want to be there. I've said time and time again that it is extremely important for the students to know that the teacher absolutely wants to help, teach, support, and guide them. If teachers jump into each lesson with everything they've got, then the children will too. Most students learn from example and if teachers become that example with an undying relentlessness, the kids will see that and follow. I know because I was once a student in grade school!

I think this class has been the key to making my ideas more creative. I think creativity has alot to do with what the kids see and experience in the outside world, i.e. technology. We have to incorporate what the students are interested in outside of school into the lesson. Of course, by that I mean doing so in a healthy way and by using things that will give them an advantage in the future.

As for how to become more curious, I am already there! Know why? Because I want to teach. Curiosity is part of that desire. So I'm all set. I will always want to know the latest techniques, programs, etc. when it comes to teaching my students. Schools have got to stop living in the stone age. Most schools seem like a form of time capsule; they're the same as 20 years ago!



Ellis is a writer from InGoodMeasure.net. She was born and raised in Colorado and seems to really know her stuff. Like me, Elli said she was often ridiculed for her inquisitiveness throughout her years in school. She stated that she learned more from asking questions and getting answers than she did from memorizing, reading or writing. I agree that we need to teach our children to NOT be satisfied with not knowing the answer to something. We must not allow them to be afraid to ask questions. Elli has a Gmail account and has a Google + profile.

C4K for April

Easter Holiday

In this post, Mel wrote about her plans for Easter. She described who was coming to their house for the day and what they would be doing. She wrote about the Easter egg hunts they would have and the golden egg containing ten dollars.

I told her about my experiences with Easter when I was little. I explained that my dad always made sure the golden egg was yellow so it would be harder to find because it looked like all the others. I also mentioned that, along with Halloween, Easter was my favorite holiday. Her post was fun to read because she seemed so excited about this Easter Sunday!

 Rita's
 In this blog, Mel describes how she noticed the line at Rita's was extremely long. I am not sure what Rita's is, but I think it could be an ice cream shop or maybe even a smoothie shop. She stated how she was able to elude the long line by walking a few blocks to the one down the street. I told her how I don't like long lines and described the trendy new yogurt shops we have around town. They are always so busy. I told her how I enjoyed reading her posts and encouraged her to keep up the good work.

 Gus: The Titanic

Gus is in Ms. Kennedy's class and he wrote about how cool he thought the Titanic was. I told him it impressed many people when it was finally completed and also mentioned the tragic accident. I told him to keep up the good work and that I enjoyed reading his blogs.

Blog Post #11

First Graders in Ms.Cassidy's Class

I really enjoyed this video! It was pretty awesome to see the kids physically doing exactly what we are learning to teach them. It was fun to see them interacting with each other and working on their blogs in the computer center.  Ms. Cassidy stated that the video was made over the course of two years. She used commentary from past students and the video content was from her current class. In the video, the children talked about the blogging that they do, their internet usage, and even touched on how one should comment on a blog.

Skype with Ms. Cassidy
 

Ms. Cassidy began the video by explaining how she first got into blogging and incorporating them into her teaching. She first began about 10 years ago when she was given 5 SunRay computers. She stated that five of anything in a primary classroom is called a center. She officially had a computer center and began using them in her daily lessons. After starting her own blog about 5 years ago, she thought it would be a great idea to become an advocate for using technology in classrooms everywhere. Even with a very small support group and having to deal with teachers who did not want to change, she was granted federal funding for professional development to further work on ways to spread the technology sensation.

Ms.Cassidy made the comment that most teachers really appreciate the class blog and the students blog because they can truly monitor the progress their children are making. They can physically see an online portfolio of their child's work and can also keep up with what is going on in the classroom. Kids and technology go hand and hand. It's a part of their world and they really do not know a time without internet or computers. That is why it is important to teach them how to use these programs properly because it is inevitable that they will use them in the future.

Technology is NOT going away. She states that we can't teach kids in this generation using the techniques we used 5, 10, or 20 years ago. The world is constantly changing and so must our education criteria. I agree with this completely because there are so many opportunities now for collaborating and learning with other people around the world. We are handicapping our students and even ourselves by not taking advantage of these tools.

Dr. Strange asked if she noticed a difference in learning when the students used blogs to practice their writing. She stated that when they write on paper, there is no real audience. Blogs make writing more exciting because there lies the potential for hundreds of people to read what they wrote. Ms. Cassidy has even installed a program called classblogmeister that counts how many people have visited their blog. I will definitely include this when I do my own class blogs for my students.

Ms. Cassidy recommends that to begin our own blogs, we should first begin with what we are truly interested in and go from there. It makes it easier to see the potential your blog has and where you can take it. I like the techniques Ms.Cassidy used to keep her students going strong in their writing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that they can see there own progress at one time by looking at their very first post and comparing it with their last. This truly gives them a sense of improvement and I think it would encourage them to do even better. Results are the best motivators!

Project #14

Blog Post #10

Do You Teach...Or Educate????

 
To teach is to show or explain how to do something, to encourage someone to accept as fact or principle or to cause someone to learn or understand something.

An educator is one who gives moral and social instruction. A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser.

The sentence in bold depicts exactly what has led me to pursue an education degree. I have gone through so many different "teachers" and not enough educators. I want to be the person that arrives bright, fresh and new and STAYS that way. I don't want to be the one to break down and give up half way through the school year. I want to believe my students can do better no matter what the circumstances and I know that I will do all I can to make that happen.

I believe that educating is the one of the careers you can't choose unless you are absolutely SURE you want to be  in that profession. You have to want it badly because if you don't, think of how your behavior will reflect upon the students. If the students know you want to absolutely dedicate 100%  of your time to trying to better their intelligence and understanding, than they will appreciate you more than those they know who don't care.

It really worries me to see people who don't belong in this profession in my education classes. I can tell immediately from their attitudes and how they work. I want to show the world that there is still hope for the public school systems and their employees. Have faith in the few of those educators who still have faith in their students!! There are still excellent teachers out there who want to lead these children into a better future and I am going to be one of them. I love children and I love the idea of guiding them towards a better life and to a better understanding of the world.

I want to become an EDUCATOR because I have every intention of TEACHING children how to be better than they ever thought possible. I want them to explore every corner of knowledge and navigate the vast landscape of learning with confidence and overwhelming excitement.

Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home 

 To begin with, School Curriculum Instructional Interventionist Academic Specialist is a mouthful! Mr. Spencer is asked by Gertrude (the holder of the complex title I previously mentioned) to stop letting the children take the pencils home. He lists off the usual concerns with carrying a sharp pencil, but surprisingly they're irrelevant to the real  problem.

"...students who use pencils at home have lower standardized test scores."

Well Mr.Spencer had a problem with this research. He believes that what he calls "drill-and-kill" bubble testing isn't authentic research. He also feels that the poor are often marginalized and that clever marketers tailor pencil use in poor areas towards entertainment. The children from these areas think these pencils are a sort of toy. Even after explaining how he met with the parents to promote involvement with their child's learning, Gertrude still insists the only fix is to take their pencils away from them at the end of the day.

I thought this to be a pretty interesting post. I love how this "research" blamed low standardized test scores on pencils. Not the pressure to do well or the fast paced cramming of information into the students brains, but pencils. We put our children on overload and they end up learning nothing. Instead of educating them for the long run, we teach them so they can temporarily contain the information for the tests they have to take.

In Larry Ferlazzo's blog posts, he quotes an excerpt from a study released on the usage of home computers by students. According to the study's abstract it reads...


…demonstrate[s] that the introduction of home computer technology is associated with modest but statistically significant and persistent negative impacts on student math and reading test scores. Further evidence suggests that providing universal access to home computers and high-speed internet access would broaden, rather than narrow, math and reading achievement gaps.

This is an example of a post similar to the one Mr. Spencer published. Mr. Ferlazzo is not a “true believer” in technology always having a positive effect on learning. The research he has done with his own students has reinforced that skepticism. At the same time, however, he believes that home computer usage can be used — selectively and strategically — to benefit student achievement.

I feel the same way. I believe that if children are instructed to use technology in the right way, then it can be absolutely beneficial. I also feel that certain things shouldn't ultimately be looked at as the sole sources for low test scores.