New year - late start

Here it is, late October 2012, but we are finally off to a start in the Globaloria classroom here at Greenbrier West. Due to moving into the new Art room (hooray!!!) and some computer issues, it was not practical or possible to begin with the program at the start of the school.
I have 9 students in this year's class and I am very hopeful about the prospects of them doing very good games. They have a variety of interests and personalities so that should only add to the fun.
To my Computer Assisted Art students I say, Do your best and I can ask for no more!

Working Diligently

Students asked, "Have we been working diligently?". Isn't it strange how everyone's idea of working diligently is different? Some students think that if they are sitting quietly and not bothering anyone that they are working. I don't think that is the case. If they are working as hard as they can using their grey matter (brain power), then they are working diligently.
Everyone has an off day but we should try and not let it become a habit. It is easy to do that I think.

Menander of Athens - "He who labors diligently need never despair; for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor." 

 

Online Collaboration

Online Collaboration - good or bad? That is the blog prompt that I asked my students in the Globaloria class to blog about. I come to this question from a totally different viewpoint than my students though. To me, they are "digital natives"; they have grown up with technology and the Internet. When I began teaching 17 years ago, teachers and schools were just starting to really get into it. For the digital natives, I think it comes more naturally to do an online collaboration to complete some type of product. They are used to texting, checking status' , and generally keeping in touch by using keypads instead of verbal communication.
As with anything else, you can have too much of a good thing. While online collaborations are good, I still think that there should be a mix of online and the spoken word. Work things out online but also speak to the participants so everyone is also developing their verbal communication skills.
The following book would be a good resource when exploring the options about collaborating:

New year resolutions....old year reflections

Ahh, it is that time of year again, the time when, with the beginning of a new year, we make resolutions with the best of intentions. However, perhaps we need to take it on a day to day basis instead of planning out for the whole year. If we make unattainable resolutions, what is the use?
And maybe that is the thought that we (I) need to keep in mind. That if we keep a positive attitude and the thought that 'it will all work out', things usually do work out. I can remember my mother and I talking about the fact (and this is a fact!) if you start out the day thinking that it is going to be a bad day; things go wrong in the morning and we get the mind set that everything else is going to be bad... then YOU WILL HAVE A BAD DAY! Whereas, if you decide that you aren't let things get to you, your day will usually improve. If my students would keep that thought in mind I think they would enjoy their days more. I'm certainly not saying that they have to verbalize it to me or to others but just keep that positive thought that 'things will usually work out' in their own minds, then things will go better.

SO I close this post with the thought - What can you do to make your days and therefore your year go better?

Everyone Processes Things in Different Ways

Which are you, left brain or right brain dominate? Did you know that effects how you think, how you process information, how you even learn? GO to the following links and check out these online tests to see which side is more dominate for you and maybe learn why you do better in some subjects more than others.

http://similarminds.com/left-brain-brain-test.html Click on link at close to top that says personality test, click on right brain, left brain test

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~studskl/hd/learn.html click on left hand column where it says 'hemisphere dominance test'

Perhaps these will help you figure out how to do something better than you have before. When you have read through and completed these first three, go back to similarminds.com link and try some of the other tests to discover about yourself.

Hopes for this new school year

This year in Globaloria, I hope to be able to inspire my students to be as creative, motivated and socially aware as possible. I want to be able to lead the class in such a way that these young adults are really  into creating games that reflect their own learning about the topics of their own choosing. I do not want them to feel intimidated about the process but to look at this class as a journey of their own making. I hope that they will come to be the facilitators of the class, that as we travel on this learning path, that the students are the one doing the leading of THEIR OWN Learning.

I hope that the games that they are creating are completed, with good graphics, good information and unique. I want them to make games that are creative and fun to play and that show the talents of my students because I know that they can do this, they just seem to think that they can’t or don’t want to give the impression that they know how to do this.

I am really concerned that the students will not motivate themselves. I know that no matter what I SAY to them, it comes down to what they are willing to put into the process. I do plan to place my own incentives along the way so that students will feel that they are accomplishing for themselves as well as the class and their peers.

Isn't the Best Way to Teach Quite a Puzzle?

Doesn't that seem the question that is always passed around when teachers get together? Or at least the administrators and 'higher ups'? When I first began teaching it seemed that the biggest complaint among the veteran teachers was the practice of the administrators and educational theorists and experts to suddenly change how things are done in the education process. It wasn’t so much that new ideas were unappreciated but it seemed to these teachers that not enough time was given to new practices to actually see if they were effective and to also often “throw out the baby with the bath water”. Remember that expression, where we tend to get rid of everything when we really need to keep the good without getting rid of the ineffective?

Effective teachers look for those ways to teach that work the best way for them. Yes, we need to constantly be on the lookout for ways to improve our teaching, if we don’t then I think we will become stagnant and ineffective. However, if you are knowledgeable about works for you then hold on to those methods, just make sure that you are not fooling yourself in believing that your way is always the best way.

With the Internet at our fingertips, teachers should develop resources that can keep us updated about trends and effective practices. One of the most talked about subjects is about problem solving and group learning being the way to go for our teaching. In this article at the  EducationNext.org site, check out this posting about the Sage on the Stage: “Learning by problem-solving may be less efficient, as discovery and problem-solving often take more time than mastering information received from an authority figure. And incorrect or misleading information may be conveyed in conversations among students….”  is part of this posting. Check out the rest and see what you think.

The EducationNext.org site often has a plethora of thought-provoking articles, videos and postings. Perhaps you will and perhaps you won’t, who is to say that looking through the postings we won’t find something about Globaloria and the way we are updating and challenging our students’ learning.  That, I believe, is what we all should be doing, challenging our students with their learning and developing OUR OWN BEST WAY TO TEACH EFFECTIVELY. Isn't it a Puzzle!