Showing Compassion; The Little Things

We live in a world of broken relationships where movies depict caring as weakness and your point of reference to what relationships should look like is according to whomever is at the top of your playlist.

Never the less, feeling loved and a sense of belonging are basic human needs, ones that are especially high in school children. As teachers we are bound by duty of care, with compassion being a major component of care. Showing compassion to your students and creating a compassionate atmosphere in the classroom will give the learner a sense of acceptance and belonging. But, this is way easier said than done. Showing compassion to 7-ish classes of 30 or 40 odd students a day does not necessarily come natural to everyone, so here are a few tips:

1. Check in on the students. Pay attention to small changes in behavior and let them know that your door is always open if they need someone to talk to. Remember that they have a life outside of your class and that it does not always coincide with the plans that you have.
2.  Everyone messes up every now and then. If some this does not go according to plan, let the learner know that you had expected more, but that it is okay and he/she can try again next time around.
3.  Set the bar high, but let the learners know that you believe in their abilities and that you are there if they need you along the way. This should not only be done is a group setting, but also on a personal level. Try to find that one thing that shines in each of your students and make them see it too.
4. Approach the learners on their level. Let them know that, even though you are the authority figure in the class, you do not see yourself as above them. Do this by noting the tone of voice and vocabulary you use when you speak to them, along with occasionally kneeling next to their desks to talk to them on their physical level.
5. Ask more open-ended questions; this will allow the student to share more, strengthening the connection between you and the student.
6. Share your stories with the learners, this will make your relationship with them deeper and “more human”. It allows the learners to realize that their problems are temporary and that they will make it through them just as you made it through. It is, however, very important not to overshare or share anything inappropriate with the learners.
7. Take time to reflect on what you did this week; what worked and what didn’t. This way, you can get to know how to approach your learners and what they respond to best.
8. As a teacher, you should lead by example. You should always display acts of compassion in front of your students. Be kind, understanding and aware (especially when interacting with colleagues). You should not dismiss questions, assume anything, or close your door to anyone. When you show you care about people and the world around you, students will pick up on these behaviors, and may feel more comfortable approaching you with concerns.

Although some of these might seem insignificant and small, it is important that we remember that the actions of a single person in a single moment can make or break a child.

Today's lesson: Humanity

Meaningful involvement of the learners in the classroom… What does that mean?

My first thoughts were, “This is simple. It’s getting kids to do things that mean something.” But what does THAT mean??

After reading the article by Wills (2015), I drew the general conclusion that this means to get the kids involved in a way that they learn something in the process of whatever it is they are doing. Be it moving tables around or caring for a class pet. It should not just be about the end result. Like with Wills, the kids learnt that the WAY in which they move the tables has an effect on the atmosphere for the rest of the class. Wills also learnt that she cannot do everything herself and needs to let the kids take responsibility as well.

Having said that, it’s not so easy to apply that to the classroom in everyday situations. This is where I feel the video by Foley (2014) comes in. “Teaching the whole child… like you can lecture to just the arm or a knee… although… you could teach a cognitive AND muscle memory. Similarly, you could be lecturing a hall filled with bodies with only a handful of minds being present…”

This one really got me thinking. I watched the video a few times and even went through it stop-start just so I can take notes on everything. It gives quite a lot of info for a short 5 min video, but in the end, “teaching the whole child” really is the best way to sum it all up. Sure they use big fancy terms, categories and subsections to split everything up into bite size pieces, but in the end, it really is that simple… In theory anyway.

It’s about taking in account every aspect of the learner (culture, fundamental skills like reading and writing, social background… basically who and what this learner is) and keeping that in mind while teaching them on an academic, social and behavioral (which would include emotional intelligence, right?) level. As teachers, we tend to develop tunnel vision, focusing so much on CAPS and the academics that we forget that we are shaping lives in the process. School is not just about gaining book knowledge, but also about shaping and molding a human being. A human being who will ultimately be touching, shaping and influencing other lives (which is a scary thought... I mean, pppshhhg, NO PRESSURE).

For this reason, we need to truly connect and bond with the learners on a personal (yet professionally acceptable) level so that we can teach in a manner that encourages learner involvement in order for them to discover their voice. This can only be accomplished if you facilitate a safe and comfortable learning environment that still allows for freedom and discovery.

Not so simple anymore.

As I am sitting in the NARGA open area on this day, the 16 of March 2016, I have no idea where I will be in 5 years' time. I have no idea of the type of school, the area or the learners I will be teaching. Because I feel strongly that teaching should be individualized to the group learners in each class, I cannot possibly say how I will be implementing all this in my class one day. What I can say, is that I understand the importance of Meaningful Involvement as stressed not only in the video, the article and some of our subjects, but especially for personal experience; knowing how much it meant to me.

To be able to teach "the whole child" is definitely something that I will consciously strive to do.

As refered to in this blog: 

• The article/blog by Wills (2015): Applying Mindfulness to Mundane Classroom Tasks
• The video: Effective Pedagogy- Teaching the whole child

Are they stupid or just bored stiff?

"I remember things better when I get to wrestle with it and have to figure it out for myself " I hear a colleague saying. I can totally get how this is true and why it works, but is this really new? Is this something that only developed along with the technological boom?

Self-mediated distance learning (SMDL) is a very intriguing topic that shows a lot of potential, but an equal amount of danger and otherwise negative aspects.

On the one hand, it gets the students interested and invested in what they are learning. I recall one of the most frequently asked questions in school being "How is this relevant? Where will I ever use this outside of the classroom?" If the learners get to research and investigate their passion, they have an internal motivation second to none. They connect a sense of responsibility and pride to their work. They want to learn more and get better at whatever it is that they are doing and are open to input. On the other hand, these learners will need some form of guidance. This would mostly be to ensure that what they are learning is correct and relevant, as well as making sure that any misunderstandings and misconceptions are addressed. But would this mean we need to shift our titles from teachers to mentors? You tell me…

Quite often I hear the argument that teaching should be more digital/technological because the students get bored with the teacher in front just talking and writing on the board. This argument is flawed in that, believe it or not, technology can be boring. BOOM! I said it. "So, if it’s not the teacher, why are the kids bored?" Simple. It’s not about having technology or not, it’s about accommodating as many as possible of the learner's learning styles regardless of the tools used to accomplish that. Whether you look your teacher in the eye or watch a recording of the class your friend shared on YouTube, if it’s boring, it’s boring. Period. If you don’t like reading, it’s not going to matter if you read it off a laptop screen or a printed copy, its READING that you don’t like. The difference with SMDL is that the learner inherently knows how they will learn best and how to best convey what and that they have indeed learnt. In a sense, they get to tailor their course to whatever gets them to their goal in the most effective way possible.

There is very tongue in cheek quote that I remember from my first year, saying: “Change is inevitable … except from a vending machine!” I can’t help but giggle every time I am reminded of it, but it definitely holds some truth. I just thing that in this ever changing world, it is important not to just change for the sake of changing, but to keep the goal in mind. As the Law task we had to hand in today very clearly reminded us, as educators, we have the duty to always consider the best interest of the learners is whatever we do. Also, every now and then, technology WILL fail you.

So, where am I getting at with all this?

I think it’s important to remember that there is a time and a place for everything. SMDL can be a good medium for a child to learn, if it suits the child’s personality, learning style and the area that the child wants to study in. A person who wants to become a surgeon, for instance, would benefit much more from a “proper academic education” than from SMDL. On the other hand, a writer or animation artist would be a much more practical self-study field.

Therefore, I think we need to be open minded about how we teach and how the future students will learn best. We need to look at the broader picture as well as the individual and be very careful of generalizations. Isn’t that what got us in trouble in the first place?

Which character are you? 

Which is more disruptive, an exam pad or an IPad?

And here I thought this whole “read and blog” thing was your brain child, Mr. Knoetze … :P

We live in a digital word where kids are growing ever the less comfortable and able to express themselves in person. There are many kids who would never make a sound in the classroom, but would feel a lot more comfortable to formulate their answers before outing their thoughts to the world. With this in mind, why don’t we use social media to our advantage in the classroom?

Nicholas Provenzano (2015) mentions being skeptical about interacting with the kids on social media, mostly because of the ethics behind it, if I am not mistaken. I think it should be perfectly fine to create and facilitate the platform, like in our Digital Pedagogy (DP) class, with the idea being that the learners interact with each other while you supervise and make sure that the learners stay on topic while treating each other with the necessary respect. This way, they don’t only learn and reinforce their knowledge of the content of the subject matter they are discussing, but you can also teach them acceptable professional conduct concerning social media.

Remind, as discussed by Provenzano (2015), is a good idea in theory, but at some point the kids need to learn responsibility. Reality is, they aren’t going to have someone spoon feeding them information and reminders after their schooling career. There are enough other ways of remembering things including reminders on your phone, a diary, keeping a calendar or asking a friend. By placing the responsibility on the learner, he/she learns vital organizational skills and responsibility in the process. Personally, I would not use this.

I like the idea of using Instagram to get the learners actively involved and thinking about the subject outside of a formal learning environment. If it’s not always possible to bring examples (of whatever we are discussing in class) to class. By using Instagram, you could regulate if the learners understood what they have been discussing in class by letting them post pictures of examples under a certain hashtag. For example, different types of trees. This can be done as a formal assignment or as opportunity deems fit (learners’ encounters with relevant situations). It is, however, vital to remember that the safety of the learner is of utmost importance. You cannot give the learners an assignment that could possibly lead to them getting hurt or placing themselves in danger.

Twitter seems like a good idea if it can be used to draw the kids’ attention to the work at hand. I would want to run a trial period of, say, a month to see how the kids use it and if it is efficient. The challenge would be to draw the learners’ attention back to you and off of their electronic device once you are done with the exercise on it (if used inside the classroom).

Besides for the points made in the prescribed blog, blogging is a good way to test the learners’ understanding of a subject matter, without the stress of a time constraint or the pressure of knowing that it is a formal test. Letting the learners know that it will not be graded, but that you will only use it to adjust your teaching, should also help them to share more openly. School being canceled due to extreme weather is very unlikely in SA. Due to protests, more likely. I would most definitely consider using Twitter in conjunction with a blog system in my classroom, as we are doing in the DP class. This is, if it is practical, of course.

An alternative to the real thing, would be to have a pin board in the class or just outside, where I (as teacher) could pin up a topic. The learners can the write short, anonymous essays (blogs), Sticky notes (Tweets) or newspaper/magazine pictures (Instagram) or articles (Facebook).

If paper was once thought of as a disruptive technology, but we were able to successfully integrate it into our everyday teachings, what is to say we can’t do the same with social media?

The fact is, the learners will most likely have some means of technology and communication with them. Be it their phones, IPads, tablets etc. If they are bored, they will divert their attention to it, rather than to your work. I personally believe, that if you cannot keep the attention of your learners, it might be time to reassess your approach to the way you are teaching. 

Here are the links to the blogs mentioned above, Provenzona(2015) and Davis(2015)

No Guts, No Glory

When I read the articles for the first time, I thought to myself, “This buddy has some strong opinions for and against digital pedagogy. Soooo, which side is he really on? I don’t understand what he’s getting at.” I even wrote the words “Narrow minded!” over one of the paragraphs… Although, I have to add, I fell asleep, face planted on the carpet in my room, not 5 min later. Needless to say, I had to give these two pieces another read before really responding to them.

As I was reading through these articles, I realized that one could not simply define pedagogy as “involve[ing] the method and practice of teaching. Especially in an academic subject or theoretical concept” as I did in my previous post. 

In fact, nothing about the concept pedagogy is simple. There is no finite, conclusive definition that truly encapsulates the essence of pedagogy. No WikiHow on How to Pedagogue or Pedagogy for Dummies that would transform you from a teacher to a pedagogue overnight (I checked).

What I do understand from the texts, is the heart of the matter. Pedagogy is essentially doing whatever it takes to get the most out of your learners. Trying weird and wonderful approaches to get the learners intrigued, puzzled, excited and ultimately, involved in the material that you are covering. It’s exploring, improvising, “screwing around”, “unlearning, play and rediscovery”, as mentioned in the articles. I guess you could say that pedagogy aims to put the fun back into learning.

I am reminded of a quote on a poster that was stuck on the wall of one of my high school classes. “You are only a leader if someone is following you, or else you’re just taking a walk.” The same can be said for teaching. You are only a teacher if learning is taking place, or else you’re just wasting your breath. Likewise, you cannot be a pedagogue if no learning is taking place. If that is the case, you’re not doing it right.

By the end of the readings, I realized that I was blessed with a true pedagogue (as per my current understanding of the term) in high school. My Life Science teacher was given the challenge of making our “problem class” fall in love with her subject. And she did! It seems like yesterday that we were discussing internal organs in class, when she whipped out an animal heart and a set of lungs that she had gotten from a slaughter house. Of course, she warned us before taking it out, and allowed the learners who did not want to see it to sit in the back of the class and continue with a handout. But the rest of us were allowed to poke the organs, inspect the different chambers of the heart and stick your finger into the Aorta if you wished to do so. She also gave us drinking straws that we could use to stick into the exposed tubules of the lungs and watch it inflate when you blow into the straw. It was great fun and provided an exciting learning experience to even the most uninvolved pupil in the class.

She would always provide physical examples where she could, tell funny stories and connect them to our work content, draw pictures on the board, show us videos and make up puzzles or songs in addition to explaining the work from 20 different angles, if needed. And with freight load of enthusiasm and patience, too, just to make sure that everyone understood.

To me, she is the perfect example of what the articles meant when describing what a pedagogue should be like. The challenge raised in the Pt.1 article, though, is to take that kind of passion, creativity and commitment to learning and translate it to an online or digital platform. That is what, according to Sean in Pt.1, the world is not ready for when stating: “We are not ready to teach online.”

For those interested in reading the above mentioned articles, here are the links:

DECODING DIGITAL PEDAGOGY, PT. 1: BEYOND THE LMS

DECODING DIGITAL PEDAGOGY, PT. 2: (UN)MAPPING THE TERRAIN

My Computer ate my Homework

So, we got this challenge of responding to an article about Digital Pedagogy Unplugged… CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! B-)

I have to admit, my first response was a lot less confident than that might sound. “Peda… peda… what?” Even though it took me about 5 minutes just to figure out how to pronounce Pedagogy out loud before looking up what it actually means, I now get that it involves the method and practice of teaching. Especially in an academic subject or theoretical concept. This makes sense, considering the contexts in which pedagogy has been used in class for the past two and a half weeks.

Two things caught my eye in the article. Firstly, the emphasis that was placed on digital not necessarily referring to electronics, fascinated me. Secondly, the debate for and against the use of electronic technologies in class really got me thinking.

I really liked the way they described digital as “something to get your hands on, to deal with in dynamic units, to manipulate creatively.” In this sense, books, pieces of paper and pictures, for example, could also be included into digital pedagogy. This also means that you don’t need a computer to go digital, thus not excluding less privileged students. All you need is a creative imagination.

The above mentioned debate highlighted some view points and arguments that I could relate to, but never really thought about before. For example, digital pedagogy can be a very helpful tool in the classroom or it could be the learners’ very definition of boredom. I personally believe that it is very important to encourage the use of digital electronics in any field of education. It has become an integral part of our everyday and professional lives and is thus a vital skill to master. This being said, I also fully agree that it should be used creatively and responsibly. By this I mean that, whatever digital tool is being used, it should be used in way that would stimulate the learners’ interest and thus encourage the learners to participate. This is, after all, how learning takes place most effectively. One should also never rely solely on technology, because technology WILL fail you.

The idea of the “flip-classes”, as mentioned in the article, is a very good one and should work quite well, provided that the learners do their part, and read what they are supposed to, before class.

There is also the idea of teaching naked. I don’t agree with it. Not in the inappropriate or digital pedagogical sense of the term. In a modern day and age, I feel that it is important to “keep up with reality”. This being said, there is no doubt that it is better to have a successful, interactive learning experience without any fancy technology, than completely losing the learners’ curiosity and interest for the subject by boring them with impersonal pedagogies that stimulate absolutely no thinking or involvement.

In conclusion, I think that it is important to be able to balance digital technology in a way that it optimizes the involvement and interest of the learners. In a sense, integrating the “human aspect” into digital pedagogy as much as possible. This would then create the optimal learning environment, which is what we want, right?

Back to school

Testing... testing...1,2... 1,2... is this thing on?

Hi. I'm Nicoline Elizabeth Taljaard. My friends call me Zabby, but I'm pretty sure most of my lecturers just know me as 17121884. Most of campus knows me as the girl with red hair and green scooter, but that's mostly because of my driving. 

I'm new around here. Not to Stellies, I've been here since first year and grew up on ocean's side of the hill. I meant this whole blogging thing. We have to do it as part of one of our modules (I seriously did not see that one coming). I've always wanted to be one of those sophisticated sounding people who, very nonchalantly, mention  that they write a blog in casual conversation. Then again, any old Snap, Crackle and Pop could write a blog these days. All you need is internet access.

(Super subtle topic change). Since this blog is called confessions, I suppose I may declare:

I am UNBELIEVABLY nervous about this year and what it would hold! (Insert facepalm here).

Moving departments feels like moving to a new town! Total opposite side of campus! New lecturers I'm not sure how to address, new faces to try and remember, new buildings to get lost in... not to mention that I only had one theory subject last year and now have to recondition myself to 13. That's right, thirteen! All of them year modules. And to top it all off, they make us write a test on the very first day, telling us to write 70 words for 50 marks. HOW?! Where I come from, you have to write at least a page per 10 possible marks. But, that's postgrad. for you. Playtime is over.  I suppose I will just have keep my chin up, shove my flower crown onto my head and to get used to it. Keep praying, keep smiling and take it one day at a time.

Breathe in... Breathe out...Repeat if required...