Learning Adventures Reflection

We have journeyed on three adventures to date in class. The first adventure on hereos and martyrs brought home the point that you need to be careful about biases in research and information. The personal perspective is important but you need to carefully examine your data and procedure to ensure that your biases have not crept into the project. It also emphasised the importance of making sure that you examine closely the sources you are using. If you are not careful, you could wind up on looking only for research that reinforces your biases instead of showing the whole picture. The second and third adventures brought home, for me, the importance of personal connection and learning. The second adventure involved using a music program to create a musical composition. During this adventure, all I could think about was how I couldn't wait to just get the composition done and move on. I had no connection to the program therefore I had neither the desire to excel at the compostion nor the drive to explore the program further. If I had been sitting in a classroom, my eyes would have been glazed over and my mind wandering to anywhere except class. (I have, sad to say, personally seen this expression on my students faces!) With the third adventure, exploring space, I could feel the excitement building everytime I used the program. The ideas began flowing fast and furious as I got into the program. I was able to picture how to use it in my classroom and the expression on the student's faces. Due to the connection I had with the program, my desire to explore the program built and I was able to find add-ons that could be used to send my students on their own personal journey through space. The difference in how I felt from adventure 2 and adventure 3, reminded me of the importance of facilitating a connection between my students and the curriculum content. It means that I am going to have to move out of my comfort zone and into a new world of mutual input between my students and myself. I am not sure where the remainder of this class will take me, but I can already see personal growth. I am a better educator today, then I was a few weeks ago. I have no doubt that as we progress through this program, I will learn even more that will make me an even better educator. Looking forward to the next adventure!

Community of Practice

I just finished my project for the community of practice. I elected to observe at a skateboard park. During the observations I saw that the skate park was not just for skateboarders but also for the BMX bike riders. It was truly amazing to watch the interaction between the two groups. They had the same type of heirarchy in both groups. The more experienced riders and boarders were given the first dib on the bowls they used to do their tricks. Once they were finished the less experienced would take over the bowls and attempt the tricks they saw the other "experts" do. There was a lot of interaction between the "experts" and the beginners as far as teaching and offering advice on completing the tricks. The ironic things was that they would only skate for 5 - 10 minutes then they would sit under the trees and talk for the next 30 - 45 minutes. The experience was a good one. Here is the video of the experience. Hope you enjoy it!!

Composing

Just finished composing a jazz piece for class. This assignment had to personal meaning to me other than to complete it so my grade was not affected to the negative. In all that we are reading it discusses that when there is no connection to the material the students do not retain the knowledge. That is how I feel about this assignment. There was a limited amount of energy expended in this task. I now understand how my students feel when I give them an assignment when not connecting with a task I assign them. It has brought to the forefront the need for me to connect the topics I teach to things of today. I hope that I will find other adventures that I can connect with instead of going through just the motions.