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)