Final reflection
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This class on classroom management and technology integration provided some useful tools for teachers but could have been improved. While introductions to aggregator websites and time management skills were beneficial, some assignments like the MEL WebQuest did not stick with the student and seemed more focused on buzzwords than meaningful content. Large blocks of class time spent reading wiki pages verbatim contradicted advice against simply reading content to students. However, the student acknowledges gaining valuable experience from both fieldwork and theoretical classroom discussions, and does not feel bitterness despite the flaws.
Final reflection
- 1. EDU221 Classroom Management/Technology IntegrationWhat did this learning experience mean to me?
- 2. So Open-Ended.That question is really wide open to interpretation. Maybe it was designed that way?I think I’ll use the feedback method where you sandwich criticism between praise…In the interest of form following function, my style on this presentation will be plain, similar to the short, declarative sentences that make up my everyday oeuvre.
- 3. Praise 1There are many tools on the Internet for teachers.Wading through them can be difficult.This class introduced us to a few aggregators, where many tools are linked in a central location!
- 4. Praise #2Time management.The amount of work that gets assigned in the practicum block as a whole really got me to develop solid time management skills.This is especially appreciated because I always suffered through procrastination and crunch time, and time management skills kill that urge quite effectively.
- 5. Criticism #1It seemed more about the medium than the message, and the message was important.For instance, we were assigned that MEL WebQuest near the start of the semester.I can’t remember a single specific thing about MEL. I can remember the WebQuest, and I can remember the movie editing software…
- 6. …but MEL itself just didn’t stick with me.It struck me as sort of a buzzword-heavy feel-good truism. Unfalsifiable. Doesn’t really say much in and of itself. I question why the model was put together in the first place.That’s just one example. The education field is filled with stuff like that.
- 7. Digression #1This only relates to the learning experience in that I figured it out while the learning experience was going on.People always intimate that education is both an art and a science. So why do we try to push the “art” side out?It almost certainly has to do with the accountability-based education system that’s come into being of late, but that system is broken. It leaves children behind.
- 8. Digression #1 continuedEducation professionals try to make the field objective but it’s never going to be objective because every student is unique. Standardized tests are a broken concept through and through, but going away from them is a scary idea to some because it would make it harder to place accountability.Only when the inherently subjective nature of education is embraced will we begin to be able to fix this country’s education system.
- 9. Criticism #2This isn’t the richest content to deliver to students. I get that.But if these concepts that you’re giving us are so valuable, why isn’t practicum designed with them in mind?Many times throughout the semester, large blocks of time spent listening to a wiki page being read were followed up with instructions to not just read off a wiki page when we ourselves were putting together lessons.
- 10. I just don’t understand. When a wiki page is read to me verbatim, I tune directly out. I figure I can get all that information later and that this time can be better spent playing on the Internet or daydreaming if the laptop lids have to be down.But we all know that’s not an effective way to deliver content. I’m sure we’ve all seen examples of a whole classroom going somewhere far, far away when the instructor insists upon reading straight from something they’ve written.
- 11. Praise #3Despite those criticisms, I’m not filled with bitterness at EDU221, at least no more than I’m filled with bitterness at anything else.It was a great learning experience. The interplay between field experience and purely theoretical time with colleagues was valuable.
- 12. ConclusionEDU221 CM/TI had some flaws, as detailed in the criticism slides in this presentation, but it was overall pretty good.This last reflection is kind of mystifying, though. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this presentation is essentially just a short essay. Why exactly twelve slides? Why three minutes? I suppose all will be revealed...