Learning Theory Put into Practice

I have reached the end of the semester of classes and created a final project about learning theories. It wasn't until I began thinking about this projec that the learning theories we had been discussing in class began to move from abstract to concrete. I took a little different look at the learning theories. I decided to take the theory put forth by Jerome Bruner and put it into practice. Bruner talks alot about how culture, interest and social activity are keys in the learning of children. When I looked back over this semester, I decided to delve deeper into a community or culture that I know nothing about; skateboarding. I decided to ask a few of my students to teach me to skateboard. The goal was to understand their learning process, develop a deeper understanding of the skateboarding culture and to engage the students in an area of interest. I can say that this project was one of the most enjoyable adventures undertaken with my students. (My hip didn't think so but the rest of me did!!) Anyway, I created a video detailing the experience of learning to skateboard. The most awesome outcome of this project was the active engagement of the students in the classroom material. The participation within the class of the students that are a part of the skateboarding community has increased and they are always checking on my progress. The students that served as my teachers meet with me daily and are always trying to find a way to weave the skateboard into our lessons. When I told them we could use it during our Forces and Motions exploration, they went out and researched those topics coming back with ideas on how to use the skateboard. The positive outcome of this project has cemented the importance of making the material interesting to the students, knowing what their interests are, and allowing them to build on their own knowledge. This final project fits right into my action research project and has given me much food for thought. The video portion is attached, so get some popcorn, sit back and enjoy as you watch learning theory put into practice.

Time Constraints

This reflection is on my participation in various aspects of classes this semester. I knew that when I entered this program that the work load was going to be intense, however the intensity is more than I anticipated. Here is the challenge. I teach and have approximately 200 students that I am responsible for teaching science and technology to. I can not short change them to ensure that I met the deadlines and read the copious amount of books for these classes. My students are important to me and this program has reinforced that. The program has already had an affect on my teaching in that I am more actively involved with my students and their education. This has introduced more requirements for my time in planning and communicating with the students and their families. On top of this, I am trying to read the large number of books and articles required for the classes. Then you top it off by the reflections we are supposed to write for each class and the projects required. Finally you add the time spent on putting together a well thought out, meaningful action research project and you find that you have a 90 hour week just for work and school. Add to that the time spent with my family and you see the challenge I face. How do you balance all that and maintain your health and sanity? It is not nor has it ever been my intention to shirk my duties to my students or this program but there is just so much I can do. I feel that I have given my best in all areas of study and work. The people being short changed on my time are my family. They are willing to give up our time so that I can complete the program and they understand the importance of this for me. Know that I am doing the best I can and will continue to participate to the fullest extent allowed by time constraints.

3N Adventure

This blog posting will cover a couple days and different thoughts about the current learning adventure I am taking part in.

Day 1: Getting the News!

I have to say as I read the information about the new adventure I am apprehensive. As I read through the directions, my mind moves to the turtle quilt project and the frustration I felt during that time. My thoughts immediately go to, great here we go again. A project with little success for me. The reason for this is simply based on past experience. Experience one: The one area of problem solving I have always struggled with is the "what comes next in the sequence" activities. Experience two: The turtle adventure with the quilt building. There was success with the adventure but it took many hours of frustration. In fact, I can honestly say that it will be a day or two before I look at this program.

Day 2: Starting the Adventure.

I finally let go of my fear and apprehension and loaded the file for the next adventure. I have printed the directions so I have them for reference. The one thing I have come to realize is that my cadre mates have my back and if I get lost or stuck they will be there to help me. So, I began the program. It took me about 45 minutes of playing with the program to figure out what I was to do. It really helped having the directions next to me. Before I began I read the postings of others to see what they had learned and where they were headed. I began plugging in numbers and watched the machine work. I didn't get much out of the session as I wasn't sure what I was looking for.

Day 3: Small Breakthrough!

This evening I spent more time with the program and had a small breakthrough. I found that if you take a number and multiply it by 2, then the generation of the multiplied number is one more than the original number. I also turned it around and said if you divide the number by 2 then the generation of the half number is one less than the original number. However, this part is untrue because some of the numbers when divided by 2 does not produce a positive whole number, they produce a decimal. One of my cadre mates pointed the error out to me and other cadre mates pointed out that the first part remained true. Therefore I modified my hypothesis by dropping the division idea. I felt pretty good at having found this very small pattern.

Day 4: Back to the Beginning!

Okay today started the second part of the adventure with the overnight generator and the graphing. I can say that for this particular part of the adventure, I am lost and stumped. I don't see what we are supposed to do. I was reading the posts of others and have no clue what they are speaking of. I am not sure what the graph is supposed to represent. I can run the machine but have no idea what I am supposed to do with the data. the data for the runs I have done make no sense to me. One of my cadre mates has created new code and maybe tomorrow I will try his code to see what the difference is between what he did and what the 3N program does. I am 100% unclear as to what the purpose of this part of the adventure is. I have posted my findings for my cadre mates hoping that one of them can tell me the significance of the numbers and the relating generations of numbering. I will work on this more tomorrow to see if there is more clarity. Maybe the fogginess is the exhaustion I feel after a long week at work! :) Tomorrow is a new day and we will see what it brings on this adventure.

The Last Days:

Okay I have spent the last couple of hours trying to figure out what I was trying to prove/disprove or notice as far as patterns go with no luck. I have no deeper understanding of this program than I did when I started. I can say with sincere honesty that I went from apprehension at the beginning of the adventure to elation to intrigue to confusion by the end of the adventure. The apprehension was relieved by taking a deep breath and diving into the program with the directions right next to me. The elation was due to the success I achieved when finding a pattern using the basic part of the program. The intrigue came with adding the overnight and graphing tool. I spent hours running different numbers through the program and then sitting down to see what patterns I could see. I really wanted to find a profound pattern to share with my cadre mates and instructor. The confusion came when I began to read what others were doing. Their terminology was above my thought level and the graphs didn't look like mine. Even though I was confused, I continued to work with the program trying to figure out what I was doing and looking for or at. By the end, I had no better knowledge of what I was doing then when I started as far as the program went. However, I did learn a lot about myself and working together with my cadre mates. So here is what I learned:

1. I have a tendency to panic first and then settle down to work.

2. My apprehension of patterns stems from educational experiences of the past and I have to overcome them.

3. I like it when I am successful and can contribute to the team effort. On the other side, I don't like it when I feel that I am out of the loop and not a contributing member to the process. This leads to feelings of failure and withdrawal from the process and group.

4. The ability to post my feelings and questions for my cadre mates to read was a wonderful benefit. It allowed for the understanding that all of us were in different places. I was able to voice my concerns and find that I was not alone in the apprehension or confusion. This allowed me to continue working on the project despite the feelings of failure. It was also nice to see the help offered by my cadre mates. We were able to discuss the program and what we were learning. We were able to build off each other and grow through the adventure together.

Overall, this adventure was compelling and intriguing. Even though I don't feel that I mastered the program or the point it was trying to make, I did learn from it. I learned about myself and the process I undergo when learning!!

Comedian Reflection

When we were assigned this adventure I wasn't really sure how much I would get out of it. After all, how is a video/movie going to enlighten me as to education theories and ideas? I was also somewhat apprehensive over the content that could be contained within this video. I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the apprehension was unfounded.

First let me say that the video was nothing like I thought it would be. I thought the film was about a group of comedians getting together to do a show. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was the story of trying to become a successful comedian. There was a lot to the video that tied into the class.

We will start with the first noticable tie in for me was realizing that the comedians had a culture that was all their own. They had their own community of practice. In order for you to belong you had to have reached a certain level of success, know, understand and love stand-up comedy. As a presenter the comedians had to be aware of their audience and the culture they were addressing. The other part of this that brought Bruner to mind was that if you are in the audience and don't understand the culture that the comedian is discussing you won't get their jokes. It reminded me of teaching, as an instructor you have to be aware of the culture and community in which you are teaching. If you come in with no understanding of the culture or life that the students are living, then you stand the risk of having them disenegage from the task or classroom environment. The comedians pulled their material from their own experience. They use their knowledge of their culture and community to create their jokes for their routine. One comedian actually had his jokes arranged by cultures or audience types.

The other thing I noticed was the reflection period by the various artists/comedinans. Right after the show, they spoke about what worked and what didn't. When they got together as a group, they often shared their experience with each other. Those that were newer to the circuit sought the guidinace of those with more experience. The more experienced comedians also bounced ideas off of one another. They discussed their successes and failures. The tone was serious but fun when they interacted together. The give and take that took place was interesting to see. The other thing that was interesting to see was watching the heiracrchy of the comedians develop. From the perspective of someone that sees the comedians on the same level of "expertise", it was fascinating to see the "awe" that some of the comedians had for the comedians that had been around for a while. The newer comedians looked to those with more experience for guidance and input in their routines. The comedians learned from one another and worked together to build a better and stronger community.

There was one other factor that I noted in the video; the motivation factor. The comedians that appeared to be motivated by desire and love of comedy, were truly more interested in learning from each other and drawing from the experience of others. They were better in their delivery and read of the audience. The one comedian that appeared motivated by the desire for fame and fortune didn't fair as well with his audience and delivery. Motivation leads to a deeper engagement in the material or career one chooses to interact with.

It still amazes me that a single film viewed from a different perspective than normal could yield so much information.