reflection Part 2
Although my Dream It project has shifted in focus, the actual product has become more concrete. That is, the idea of creating a google site for the storage, access, and creation of instructional units has become a pivotal component to the development of an online community in the school and throughout the network of schools in the area. Capacity building has become an important aspect for the success of the site. There are varying levels of competence, with regards to the use of google for education, that can easily be developed so that most can effectively use the site for the intended purpose. That being said, there is no guarantee that the site will actually be used. A major shift in the role of technology for teacher development has to occur. It will take time to see an actual shift happen and it may happen so slowly that something else may come along and totally derail the idea.
A bigger idea has to be realized around building a learning community. It can occur in many forms and will ultimately have technology as an integral component. It may be that something has to develop organically for it to become really essential to the community of teacher/learners. Experience has taught me that one must be ready for changes that we can not control by having a clear goal that can adapt to whatever change occurs in the environment. My big idea is collaboration and communication to facilitate the shift to conceptual learning. I see web based technology having a major role in facilitating this shift. Teachers must become fluent with google apps, a necessary tool for the job, if an online community is to be created. I can have a role in this process and use the opportunity to explore how these tools can facilitate collaboration.
It is interesting that what is passed down to teachers as professional development often makes sense for students as well. The same type of collaboration that can help teachers develop professionally can also work in a classroom for students. The google apps suite along with a number of other apps available online cater to teachers and classrooms. Can the creation of an online community for teachers serve as a model for classrooms? I would love to see this type of impact but the initial teacher learning community has to get off the ground first.
I also have to note how I have changed as a student, teacher, and leader in my school. Diving head first into google sites has been a challenge, but I'm beginning to see some progress. I have upgraded this weebly site, changing formats and fonts and adding pages at different levels and access points. I can visualize where this site goes in the future. The context that teachers of STEM related content can use to create real world, authentic learning experiences for their students is limitless. I see this as a tool to help engage learners in STEM content but also to encourage teachers to strive to give their instruction some meaning. When a students asks, "Why should I learn this?" - a teacher should be able to provide examples of how math, science, and engineering are integrated into every facet of life.
The book review and author interview has been an important project for me, personally. I have felt the need to continue reading books that seem to have a connection which seems to be leading to a deeper learning. I started with The Math Gene by Keith Devlin, then I began reading Unknown Quantity by John Derbyshire until the book A Certain Ambiguity was suggested. This book, A Certain Ambiguity by Gaurav Suri and Hartosh Singh Bal, was a great read. I was instantly hooked when I read how math and physics concepts were presented in a work of fiction that made them accessible and understandable. It was even more amazing to find that another member of our cohort read a book with the very same concepts in the form of the authors memoirs. I recently began reading Euclid in the Rainforest by Joseph Mazur. In between all of these math related books I stumbled across a novel by Victor Lavalle titled Big Machine. This is a fantastic, horror novel about cults and religion but it kept me engaged and at the end of the novel comes the payoff - what keeps us going through life is "the big machine - and the big machine is doubt". Strange that the novel A Certain Ambiguity was about proof and truth, both elusive, while Big Machine also worked through a different philosophy that centered on doubt. There are connections running through so many things that we fail to see. I probably would have never made a connection between two seemingly opposite works of fiction, but this time I made a connection. I found a pattern that was constructed in my mind from separate experiences.
I constantly reference a discussion we had over the summer during our face to face sessions. We talked about the idea of questioning what one knows. This is how I interpret the "doubt" that Victor Lavalle writes about in his novel and the lack of it that the main character lacks in Suri and Bal's novel. I see so many people from my professional experience, so sure of what they know, but paralyzed by that same notion that they no longer feel the need to follow how that knowledge is evolving and changing. This was one of the lessons from A Certain ambiguity. As the book follows the development of non-euclidian geometry and ultimately the theory of relativity, the main character, who stands by the idea that logical proof can explain life, is devastated when evidence in support of the theory of relativity is collected. It is a warning to be humble and know that we are only observers, trying to make sense of and find patterns in our experiences.
A bigger idea has to be realized around building a learning community. It can occur in many forms and will ultimately have technology as an integral component. It may be that something has to develop organically for it to become really essential to the community of teacher/learners. Experience has taught me that one must be ready for changes that we can not control by having a clear goal that can adapt to whatever change occurs in the environment. My big idea is collaboration and communication to facilitate the shift to conceptual learning. I see web based technology having a major role in facilitating this shift. Teachers must become fluent with google apps, a necessary tool for the job, if an online community is to be created. I can have a role in this process and use the opportunity to explore how these tools can facilitate collaboration.
It is interesting that what is passed down to teachers as professional development often makes sense for students as well. The same type of collaboration that can help teachers develop professionally can also work in a classroom for students. The google apps suite along with a number of other apps available online cater to teachers and classrooms. Can the creation of an online community for teachers serve as a model for classrooms? I would love to see this type of impact but the initial teacher learning community has to get off the ground first.
I also have to note how I have changed as a student, teacher, and leader in my school. Diving head first into google sites has been a challenge, but I'm beginning to see some progress. I have upgraded this weebly site, changing formats and fonts and adding pages at different levels and access points. I can visualize where this site goes in the future. The context that teachers of STEM related content can use to create real world, authentic learning experiences for their students is limitless. I see this as a tool to help engage learners in STEM content but also to encourage teachers to strive to give their instruction some meaning. When a students asks, "Why should I learn this?" - a teacher should be able to provide examples of how math, science, and engineering are integrated into every facet of life.
The book review and author interview has been an important project for me, personally. I have felt the need to continue reading books that seem to have a connection which seems to be leading to a deeper learning. I started with The Math Gene by Keith Devlin, then I began reading Unknown Quantity by John Derbyshire until the book A Certain Ambiguity was suggested. This book, A Certain Ambiguity by Gaurav Suri and Hartosh Singh Bal, was a great read. I was instantly hooked when I read how math and physics concepts were presented in a work of fiction that made them accessible and understandable. It was even more amazing to find that another member of our cohort read a book with the very same concepts in the form of the authors memoirs. I recently began reading Euclid in the Rainforest by Joseph Mazur. In between all of these math related books I stumbled across a novel by Victor Lavalle titled Big Machine. This is a fantastic, horror novel about cults and religion but it kept me engaged and at the end of the novel comes the payoff - what keeps us going through life is "the big machine - and the big machine is doubt". Strange that the novel A Certain Ambiguity was about proof and truth, both elusive, while Big Machine also worked through a different philosophy that centered on doubt. There are connections running through so many things that we fail to see. I probably would have never made a connection between two seemingly opposite works of fiction, but this time I made a connection. I found a pattern that was constructed in my mind from separate experiences.
I constantly reference a discussion we had over the summer during our face to face sessions. We talked about the idea of questioning what one knows. This is how I interpret the "doubt" that Victor Lavalle writes about in his novel and the lack of it that the main character lacks in Suri and Bal's novel. I see so many people from my professional experience, so sure of what they know, but paralyzed by that same notion that they no longer feel the need to follow how that knowledge is evolving and changing. This was one of the lessons from A Certain ambiguity. As the book follows the development of non-euclidian geometry and ultimately the theory of relativity, the main character, who stands by the idea that logical proof can explain life, is devastated when evidence in support of the theory of relativity is collected. It is a warning to be humble and know that we are only observers, trying to make sense of and find patterns in our experiences.
