The situation: A disruptive student who believes they are at a much higher level than they actually are. This students gets extremely defensive and accuses staff of racism/discrimination whenever they are confronted about their behaviour. Their class peers think they are a joke, and the facility director does not want to remove them from the program. The student transferred from another facility and said they were removed in a discriminatory manner.
The solution: In dealing with the student directly, it is greatly acknowledged that the individual's issues go far beyond what any instructor is capable of. They are obviously unstable at some degree. If removal from the program is not an option, proper and frequent documenting of interactions is a must since the student has a habit of pulling the discrimination card. My only real solution is to prevent this from occurring again. There are a few things that I can put into place in the future. First, I would enlist in a screening process for those transferring from other schools that goes further than a simple interview. Contacting the other facility the student formerly attended would have been my first step. This could have provided more insight into why the student left their academy and given the Director/staff more insight into the student's antics. Second, a skill assessment could be performed based on what the student has supposed to have learned as outlined on their transcript. This would reflect how their skill level realistically coincides with their personal view of themselves. Last, I would propose to the Director to invite the instructors to sit in on the interview process with the prospective student. Perhaps a unanimous decision could be made regarding their enrolment.
Presentations:
Jeff
Comment: I would have quit after the basement flood! Good reflections after the video - very useful.
Question: After you master the green screen and sound editing what is the next detail one would want to learn? And will you continue with it?
Amanda
Comment: Persistent! You seem really motivated about your project, I have new respect for the knitted blanket that is on my bed.
Question: What other avenues will you take to learn the other patterns you have in mind? Did you find materials hard to find? I have heard some stores are decreasing their wool stock due to a supposed decrease in the craft. T/F?
Dan
Comment: I learned a lot about your topic. I would like to have known a little more about your personal journey to your goal, ie - what you have learned that you didn't know before/your steps towards your goal/your preferences etc.
Question: With such a busy schedule when do you find time to do meditate? And for long long/many times a week should someone aim to do it?
Laurie
Comment: What a useful topic for you to choose. Your roadblock is so funny, finding a few distractions to cool off is exactly what I would have done. Great presentation you seem to have learned a lot of valuable info and are putting it to good use.
Question: How many angry emails/calls are you going to send regarding your grading set-up? I'm curious to know your total hours put into learning this.
Doris
Comment: My daughter's Orff music teacher recommended the Suzuki material for being introduced to music - curious to know what you thought of it.
Your learning method seems very organized, sequential and well thought out. Question: To what level would you want to take this to? Personal enjoyment? Performing for friends?
Mitch
Comment: The information is kind of beyond me just because of the guitar music vocabulary, but it seems as though you learned a lot! I never even knew this existed. Good on you.
Question: Will this new knowledge enhance your air guitar skills? Kidding. How often do you like to play guitar (real guitar)?
Randy
Comment: Wow your work is amazing. What an interesting topic to choose, nice job for your first time around. This seems like a very useful tool for your classroom.
Question: When do you feel like you would want to introduce this to your classes?
Andrea/Jason/MaggieF
Comment: It seems as though you all got something different, yet useful out of this. 2.5 hours seems like such a short amount of time to so all of that - was it intense at times?
Question: What was the importance of the mussel dates?
MaggieL
Comment: Good point about being patient while we learn! So many times do we unconsciously rush and inadvertently mess up.
Question: What's next in your cabin..?
Ken
Comment: You seemed to have done a lot of research on your topic. Could have done with a little less history and more on your experience.
Question: A friend of mine breeds horses and has to do A.I. Would this method differ from the ones used for horses? Are you going to take that course?
Rick Comment: Great example of using social media for a practical purpose. It doesn't need to be all the fluff that people assume it is or use it for
Question: What is your opinion of Flickr? Do you think it's a useful addition?
Tony
Comment: What a crazy yet sequential process. So much thought and planning... I guess that makes sense if you are constructing a building.
Question: This seems like such a broad topic - are you interested in expanding your knowledge on it?
Tom
Comment: Definitely agree with you on the google comments. It can be so difficult at times to find valuable resources, and a lot of time wasted filtering through the garbage sites.
Question: Would you rather have shot your footage with a different tool as opposed to the digital camera you used?
Alan
Comment: What a big project you have on your hands.
Question: Do you have any avenues available where you can have someone with experience show you some tips or do the manufactures provide classes?
Danh
Comment: This seems like such a time consuming project that requires a lot of patience. You put a lot of time and effort into this.
Question: Would you do this again for your nephew if he wanted a different style of gun?
Sugata Mitra - The Child Driven Education
I watched this TED presentation about 4 times over. I was intrigued by the speaker, Sugata Mitra, and his experiments and findings regarding child driven education. He began the presentation with such a pertinent point - that no matter where you live in the world, you can probably pinpoint an area in you country where good teachers don't want to go. I really enjoyed his further point, that these are areas where most trouble comes from, and where good teachers are needed most.
Who would have thought that placing a single computer in the slums of New Delhi would produce such an amazing result. Mitra's experiments of simply setting up computers with internet access and then leaving children alone to discover what to do is not only fascinating, but proved that when there is desire to learn, it will happen, irrespective of who or where you are, as he later states.
What I found interesting as well, was that though the children learned and problem solved at impressive rates, is that they did so even more with the introduction of the Granny Cloud. Having someone not to provide instruction but rather guidance brought the success rate even further. I am curious what would have happened if he placed computers in these villages and classrooms and instructed the children on what to do, as opposed to heaving them figure it out on their own with simple encouragement. Would there have been such success? Would the children have retained interest in what they were trying to learn?
I also find it necessary to comment on the children's ability to recall information learned when later tested on the material. Mitra concludes that having 1 computer for every four children results in discussion that encourages the storage of information in the brain. He believes this would not be possible if there where only 1 child for every computer, as no discussion is occurring. The says a lot for having students work on tasks in groups as opposed to individually.
Overall this is an excellent presentation with very relevant material. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Articles read from the Resources page:
8 Education tools that are going away
- I really enjoyed this article. I never would have even thought about textbooks and chalkboards and pencils phasing out. Exciting and scary at the same time. My question for this would be if 10 years is a realistic time frame for estimating the extinction of these tools. A commenter made a good point about school with very little funds, if they would be technologically left behind and I am left to wonder the same.
Transforming Your Teaching Style: A Student-Centered Approach
- I agree that this is the direction of future classrooms. Would there ever be an issue where students feel the instructor is doing too little?
Using Role Play Simulations to Promote Active Learning
- I didn't particularly care for the ideas in this piece. I respect the level of learning that occurs from the role playing, but I feel that making this a large focus of lesson delivery is a little excessive. What about the introverts?!?
Blogs in Higher Education
- Useful tool of all are on board. As the author points out, some learners may not be tech savvy or are simply not interested in using the blog.
Student Centered Approaches
-I don't have to say about this piece, but there were some approaches (such as the class game) that I would be curious as to see the implementation of.
Group Work
- Good points about re focusing from group work to teamwork. With younger student essentially that is what group work should be teaching, how to work effectively with others. I have hear the point distribution system before and think it to be quite useful.
Curriculum Presentations: Did the presenter indicate appropriate student centred approaches for the course(s) or do you have suggestions for more appropriate approaches? What improvement do you see for learning by the approaches presented?
Randy: Good point about using the blogs to improve student recall. Your second approach started with a blank canvas (no pun intended) since it was primarily lecture based. The student centred approach chosen seems relevant and useful. Great presentation.
Danh: I'm a little lost on the outcomes. But some of the suggestions seemed to put more ownership on the students for taking charge of their learning which is good. Perhaps Voicethread would prove beneficial for your hands on exercise for your students to view prior to approaching the exercise?
Dan: I got a general idea of your outcome topics but not the outcomes themselves specifically. For your last approach - can all this information be stored and linked onto a course wiki? Does paper testing still seem teacher based?
Laurie: Key words- choose and interest. Keeps the students engaged and taking ownership of their learning. When you have them write their thoughts in their journal - are these shared with peers or private between you and them? If the students shared their thoughts would that expand the learning of empathy as perhaps someone is "feeling" something they may have not thought of? Good and clear presentation!
Mitch: Learning outcomes....? I think a popplet is an easy but effective method to promote class thinking and discussion. Video taping followed by critique is a good method.
Ken: Specified learning outcome format? Your student approaches seem very useful and relevant to your field. The hands-on approach to problem solving I find is always a good method.
Alan: A lot of useful outcomes. Can you free up some of your time by incorporating flipped videos, webquests, etc? Scaffolding seems very practical for his field, it seems that obviously it would need to be demonstrated then performed independently.
Andrea: Good flipped classroom approach as a tool to expose the students to new ideas and strategies. Very effective approaches - they seem successful and useful to your classes. Great job!
Jeff: - Unable to access presentation. "Do not have permission" to do so.
Maggie F: I liked your idea of having your students come up with 3 questions then go search for the answers on their own. Clear outcomes, organized ideas, great presentation.
Doris: Many learning outcomes. I like having your students do a task the "wrong" way. Many may have bad habits and this may force them to identify if what their approaches are constructive or not. I find it useful to have students blog on the time they are away from the classroom - good opportunity for reflection.
Maggie L: Clear learning outcomes. I like your Jeopardy idea - could your students maybe come up with the questions and answers to them to facilitate even more student directed learning? Ie. have everyone submit 5 or 10 questions.
Amanda: Clear learning outcomes. Delivery methods are relevant to your industry and seem valuable for your students. Videos are always great for students where english isn't their first language.
Jason: Learning outcomes were pretty clear. What so you think the success rate is like in your industry when students have to collaborate on something such as menu planning? I can see it either going very good or very bad if the group is not all on the same page. Could one of your assignments be inquiry based where the students have the choice to work in pairs or solo?
Rick: Many relevant outcomes. A variety of delivery ideas that seem to make sense for what you are presenting to your students. Would your type of class benefit from other testing methods as opposed to paper quizzes?
Tony: Very clear outcomes. Your first idea of cooperative learning really seems to add a lot to the student experience as opposed to you simply lecturing. Your ideas appeal to many different types of learners.
Tom: Outcomes are pretty clear. Having students source out a sequence of procedures is useful. Brainstorming can utilize popplet as a tool, and also other tech avenues such as shared docs, trello, or a class discussion board.
Inquiry Learning Project:
Student Centred Approaches Project:
Classroom Management Discussion:
The situation: A disruptive student who believes they are at a much higher level than they actually are. This students gets extremely defensive and accuses staff of racism/discrimination whenever they are confronted about their behaviour. Their class peers think they are a joke, and the facility director does not want to remove them from the program. The student transferred from another facility and said they were removed in a discriminatory manner.
The solution: In dealing with the student directly, it is greatly acknowledged that the individual's issues go far beyond what any instructor is capable of. They are obviously unstable at some degree. If removal from the program is not an option, proper and frequent documenting of interactions is a must since the student has a habit of pulling the discrimination card. My only real solution is to prevent this from occurring again. There are a few things that I can put into place in the future. First, I would enlist in a screening process for those transferring from other schools that goes further than a simple interview. Contacting the other facility the student formerly attended would have been my first step. This could have provided more insight into why the student left their academy and given the Director/staff more insight into the student's antics. Second, a skill assessment could be performed based on what the student has supposed to have learned as outlined on their transcript. This would reflect how their skill level realistically coincides with their personal view of themselves. Last, I would propose to the Director to invite the instructors to sit in on the interview process with the prospective student. Perhaps a unanimous decision could be made regarding their enrolment.
Presentations:
Jeff
Comment: I would have quit after the basement flood! Good reflections after the video - very useful.
Question: After you master the green screen and sound editing what is the next detail one would want to learn? And will you continue with it?
Amanda
Comment: Persistent! You seem really motivated about your project, I have new respect for the knitted blanket that is on my bed.
Question: What other avenues will you take to learn the other patterns you have in mind? Did you find materials hard to find? I have heard some stores are decreasing their wool stock due to a supposed decrease in the craft. T/F?
Dan
Comment: I learned a lot about your topic. I would like to have known a little more about your personal journey to your goal, ie - what you have learned that you didn't know before/your steps towards your goal/your preferences etc.
Question: With such a busy schedule when do you find time to do meditate? And for long long/many times a week should someone aim to do it?
Laurie
Comment: What a useful topic for you to choose. Your roadblock is so funny, finding a few distractions to cool off is exactly what I would have done. Great presentation you seem to have learned a lot of valuable info and are putting it to good use.
Question: How many angry emails/calls are you going to send regarding your grading set-up? I'm curious to know your total hours put into learning this.
Doris
Comment: My daughter's Orff music teacher recommended the Suzuki material for being introduced to music - curious to know what you thought of it.
Your learning method seems very organized, sequential and well thought out.
Question: To what level would you want to take this to? Personal enjoyment? Performing for friends?
Mitch
Comment: The information is kind of beyond me just because of the guitar music vocabulary, but it seems as though you learned a lot! I never even knew this existed. Good on you.
Question: Will this new knowledge enhance your air guitar skills? Kidding. How often do you like to play guitar (real guitar)?
Randy
Comment: Wow your work is amazing. What an interesting topic to choose, nice job for your first time around. This seems like a very useful tool for your classroom.
Question: When do you feel like you would want to introduce this to your classes?
Andrea/Jason/MaggieF
Comment: It seems as though you all got something different, yet useful out of this. 2.5 hours seems like such a short amount of time to so all of that - was it intense at times?
Question: What was the importance of the mussel dates?
MaggieL
Comment: Good point about being patient while we learn! So many times do we unconsciously rush and inadvertently mess up.
Question: What's next in your cabin..?
Ken
Comment: You seemed to have done a lot of research on your topic. Could have done with a little less history and more on your experience.
Question: A friend of mine breeds horses and has to do A.I. Would this method differ from the ones used for horses? Are you going to take that course?
Rick
Comment: Great example of using social media for a practical purpose. It doesn't need to be all the fluff that people assume it is or use it for
Question: What is your opinion of Flickr? Do you think it's a useful addition?
Tony
Comment: What a crazy yet sequential process. So much thought and planning... I guess that makes sense if you are constructing a building.
Question: This seems like such a broad topic - are you interested in expanding your knowledge on it?
Tom
Comment: Definitely agree with you on the google comments. It can be so difficult at times to find valuable resources, and a lot of time wasted filtering through the garbage sites.
Question: Would you rather have shot your footage with a different tool as opposed to the digital camera you used?
Alan
Comment: What a big project you have on your hands.
Question: Do you have any avenues available where you can have someone with experience show you some tips or do the manufactures provide classes?
Danh
Comment: This seems like such a time consuming project that requires a lot of patience. You put a lot of time and effort into this.
Question: Would you do this again for your nephew if he wanted a different style of gun?
Sugata Mitra - The Child Driven Education
I watched this TED presentation about 4 times over. I was intrigued by the speaker, Sugata Mitra, and his experiments and findings regarding child driven education. He began the presentation with such a pertinent point - that no matter where you live in the world, you can probably pinpoint an area in you country where good teachers don't want to go. I really enjoyed his further point, that these are areas where most trouble comes from, and where good teachers are needed most.
Who would have thought that placing a single computer in the slums of New Delhi would produce such an amazing result. Mitra's experiments of simply setting up computers with internet access and then leaving children alone to discover what to do is not only fascinating, but proved that when there is desire to learn, it will happen, irrespective of who or where you are, as he later states.
What I found interesting as well, was that though the children learned and problem solved at impressive rates, is that they did so even more with the introduction of the Granny Cloud. Having someone not to provide instruction but rather guidance brought the success rate even further. I am curious what would have happened if he placed computers in these villages and classrooms and instructed the children on what to do, as opposed to heaving them figure it out on their own with simple encouragement. Would there have been such success? Would the children have retained interest in what they were trying to learn?
I also find it necessary to comment on the children's ability to recall information learned when later tested on the material. Mitra concludes that having 1 computer for every four children results in discussion that encourages the storage of information in the brain. He believes this would not be possible if there where only 1 child for every computer, as no discussion is occurring. The says a lot for having students work on tasks in groups as opposed to individually.
Overall this is an excellent presentation with very relevant material. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Articles read from the Resources page:
8 Education tools that are going away
- I really enjoyed this article. I never would have even thought about textbooks and chalkboards and pencils phasing out. Exciting and scary at the same time. My question for this would be if 10 years is a realistic time frame for estimating the extinction of these tools. A commenter made a good point about school with very little funds, if they would be technologically left behind and I am left to wonder the same.
Transforming Your Teaching Style: A Student-Centered Approach
- I agree that this is the direction of future classrooms. Would there ever be an issue where students feel the instructor is doing too little?
Using Role Play Simulations to Promote Active Learning
- I didn't particularly care for the ideas in this piece. I respect the level of learning that occurs from the role playing, but I feel that making this a large focus of lesson delivery is a little excessive. What about the introverts?!?
Blogs in Higher Education
- Useful tool of all are on board. As the author points out, some learners may not be tech savvy or are simply not interested in using the blog.
Student Centered Approaches
- I don't have to say about this piece, but there were some approaches (such as the class game) that I would be curious as to see the implementation of.
Group Work
- Good points about re focusing from group work to teamwork. With younger student essentially that is what group work should be teaching, how to work effectively with others. I have hear the point distribution system before and think it to be quite useful.
Curriculum Presentations:
Did the presenter indicate appropriate student centred approaches for the course(s) or do you have suggestions for more appropriate approaches? What improvement do you see for learning by the approaches presented?
Randy: Good point about using the blogs to improve student recall. Your second approach started with a blank canvas (no pun intended) since it was primarily lecture based. The student centred approach chosen seems relevant and useful. Great presentation.
Danh: I'm a little lost on the outcomes. But some of the suggestions seemed to put more ownership on the students for taking charge of their learning which is good. Perhaps Voicethread would prove beneficial for your hands on exercise for your students to view prior to approaching the exercise?
Dan: I got a general idea of your outcome topics but not the outcomes themselves specifically. For your last approach - can all this information be stored and linked onto a course wiki? Does paper testing still seem teacher based?
Laurie: Key words- choose and interest. Keeps the students engaged and taking ownership of their learning. When you have them write their thoughts in their journal - are these shared with peers or private between you and them? If the students shared their thoughts would that expand the learning of empathy as perhaps someone is "feeling" something they may have not thought of? Good and clear presentation!
Mitch: Learning outcomes....? I think a popplet is an easy but effective method to promote class thinking and discussion. Video taping followed by critique is a good method.
Ken: Specified learning outcome format? Your student approaches seem very useful and relevant to your field. The hands-on approach to problem solving I find is always a good method.
Alan: A lot of useful outcomes. Can you free up some of your time by incorporating flipped videos, webquests, etc? Scaffolding seems very practical for his field, it seems that obviously it would need to be demonstrated then performed independently.
Andrea: Good flipped classroom approach as a tool to expose the students to new ideas and strategies. Very effective approaches - they seem successful and useful to your classes. Great job!
Jeff: - Unable to access presentation. "Do not have permission" to do so.
Maggie F: I liked your idea of having your students come up with 3 questions then go search for the answers on their own. Clear outcomes, organized ideas, great presentation.
Doris: Many learning outcomes. I like having your students do a task the "wrong" way. Many may have bad habits and this may force them to identify if what their approaches are constructive or not. I find it useful to have students blog on the time they are away from the classroom - good opportunity for reflection.
Maggie L: Clear learning outcomes. I like your Jeopardy idea - could your students maybe come up with the questions and answers to them to facilitate even more student directed learning? Ie. have everyone submit 5 or 10 questions.
Amanda: Clear learning outcomes. Delivery methods are relevant to your industry and seem valuable for your students. Videos are always great for students where english isn't their first language.
Jason: Learning outcomes were pretty clear. What so you think the success rate is like in your industry when students have to collaborate on something such as menu planning? I can see it either going very good or very bad if the group is not all on the same page. Could one of your assignments be inquiry based where the students have the choice to work in pairs or solo?
Rick: Many relevant outcomes. A variety of delivery ideas that seem to make sense for what you are presenting to your students. Would your type of class benefit from other testing methods as opposed to paper quizzes?
Tony: Very clear outcomes. Your first idea of cooperative learning really seems to add a lot to the student experience as opposed to you simply lecturing. Your ideas appeal to many different types of learners.
Tom: Outcomes are pretty clear. Having students source out a sequence of procedures is useful. Brainstorming can utilize popplet as a tool, and also other tech avenues such as shared docs, trello, or a class discussion board.