Blog Assignment #1

If I built a School, What Would It Be Like? Krissy Venosdale’s blog post If I built a School gives a vivid collection of her dream school. She writes of colorful walls, comfy seating, a modernized café themed cafeteria, an art studio, and a tree-house in the library. She empowers educators with her vivid collection of ideas for everything from teacher parking signs decorated by students to the highest form of technology available for the students to explore and learn. Venosdale says the core of the school would be character, helping others, and being your best; there would be no such thing as state tests; and grade levels would be more like rooms that kids advanced through, not based on age, but based on readiness and ability.

Sugata Mitra also has a very vivid idea for teaching in a new way. His lecture Build a School in the Cloud depicts ideas of the traditional school being outdated and not needed anymore. He proposes the future of learning begins with self-organized learning environments, or SOLE’s, in which he wishes to help the future of learning by helping children all over the world to tap into their wonder and ability to work together by getting help in building a school called the school in the clouds. At the school in the clouds, children from anywhere in the world can go on intellectual adventures driven by big questions which mediators have proposed. He stated research proving that the reptilian part of the brain shuts down when threatened, such as when a child is punished or forced to take exams. The system may have been needed in the past for people to prove they could survive threats, but in this time, there needs to be balance to shift from threat to pleasure, according to Mitra.

Upon imagining my own first grade classroom, I know that it would be bright and vivid. I want to have very specific stations with as many hands-on units as possible. I also want to incorporate as many non-traditional methods, like that of Venosdale. Though I know my class would not be as awesome as hers, I still think it would be great- with emphasis on technology and readiness, as well as positive criticism and reinforcement. I also believe that Mitra is on the right path with his envisioning of the “school in the clouds”. Children are going to show more interest and work harder to accomplish something that relates to them or they are interested in. If learning is forced upon them they are going to be affected negatively and it will just take longer to teach concepts or for them to even know if they like the material or not. I would love to instill some of Mitra’s wishes into my future classroom in order to teach kids in a positive manner, and to allow them to figure things out on their own and answer the questions their wandering sets in front of them.

I would hope I would use a variety of methods to teach. I think it is crucial that a child is given all different teaching/learning styles in order to best learn materials being presented. I hope to utilize as many electronics as possible, this is the age of technology- why not take advantage of that. I also plan to do many activities and hands-on projects, guided studies, interactive lessons, and workshops, as well as many other methods I am not aware of yet. But most importantly, I do not want to overload and overwhelm my students with chapter after chapter to read. I do not want to make them study so much they are confused and distraught. I want to teach! I want to show them the how's and why's. I want to answer questions and mostly, I want to lead by example!

What I want my students to know:
Everyone is created differently, though we are all equal. Different people learn using different methods, and they can not be blamed for their differences in learning styles. I would teach my students that the power is up to them… they will only accomplish what they allow themselves to do.

What I want my students to be able to do:
I want my students to be able to be creative, to enjoy their lessons, and to be able to fulfill their desires. I do not want them to be empty or not educated enough. I want them to desire more. To desire to learn. To want to become smarter and more knowledgeable.

My primary way of teaching my students what I want them to know and do: I will incorporate many teaching styles, but I would have to say I will primarily use technology and visual representations. As stated previously, it is crucial for children to get different methods in order to learn at their fullest compensation.

The tools I will use in my classroom:
I will definitely use the Smart Board's that are provided in Mobile County. There are so many reasons I could list as to why they are an amazing tool, but mostly because they allow the teacher to not only show the class materials from the web, but allow them to be hands-on and learn through apps and creativity.

I will also incorporate the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program heavily in my lesson plans. This is a new program Mobile County has began to implement in a select handful of schools. It is a great program in that the children bring any portable device and the teacher can plan her lessons through different websites and/or interactive sites available to the students on their device. It probably has its glitches, just like all beginning programs, but my daughter’s school was the test school last year and I can only state that when I become a teacher it will be a large part of my weekly materials due to the outstanding effects given to the students.

The role my students will play in the classroom:
My students will participate in every way possible. I hope to educate myself on several games and techniques available to get the attention and cooperation of six-year-old in order for them to be involved as much as possible. I know there are several boards and inserts that allow children to interact. A student’s environment, especially that of a younger student, has to be carefully planned in order to remove as much chaos and uncertainty that one may prepare for. I would only hope my students will be so involved and have so much fun that they do not even know they are being taught.