Comments on: Personalizing Education for Teachers, Too

By: Digital Literacy: Come Join Us in the Learning! « Online Education Resources

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 07:47:26 +0000

[...] Weblogg-ed – Personal Education for Teachers, Too [...]

By: nevine

nevine — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:46:22 +0000

As far as taking time to learn the safe and efficient way to use tech, I’m not sure that’s necessary or if that’s even a luxury that we have at this point. The time to use tech in the classroom is now. The only thing you have to “learn” about using it well is to use it purposefully, not as a gadget or for entertainment value. How do you learn this? Seek out a mentor for yourself, in person or online. The resources for learning are all around you.
We know that students learn best when they are engaged. Engage them and they will be ready for the standardized tests. Engage them by using the resources available to you and to them to light their fire for learning.
the teacher used her passion both to learn and to teach, as well as to offer her students an innovative learning experience where their own creativity could shine. All of this was made possible by the principal’s decision to loosen the reigns of division curriculum expectations and to trust her teachers to do the right thing.

By: James Maxlow

James Maxlow — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:41:06 +0000

If reference to passion-based learning, it of course does not only apply to students. One school in my district has implemented what is informally referred to as “Google Wednesdays.” This relates to Google’s practice of giving their employees around 20% of experimental/exploration/personal passion time in which they pursue projects of their own accord. In this school, teachers teach what they want to teach (imagine that!) in ways that they are passionate about during Wednesday instructional hours.

For example, one teacher created a digital clay-mation project to help her students learn about the rock cycle. This approach was not in the curriculum, yet it has proven to be very effective. And because this teacher was not an expert on digital tools for such work, she sought out the school’s technology integration specialist to grow and learn professionally.

In sum, the teacher used her passion both to learn and to teach, as well as to offer her students an innovative learning experience where their own creativity could shine. All of this was made possible by the principal’s decision to loosen the reigns of division curriculum expectations and to trust her teachers to do the right thing.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:45:38 +0000

What a wonderful idea to utilize the newly acquired skills of the IT Guides to collaborate with the other teachers. By teaching the tech skills to others it reinforces what they have just learned,while “spreading the word” of technology and building a community of teachers who can rely on each other for help. Our tech instructor works very hard to help us implement technology into our lessons, but she is only one person and a team of guides would help her promote the use of technology more effectivly.

By: International Educational Resources > Digital Literacy: Come Join Us in the Learning!

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:19:38 +0000

[...] Weblogg-ed – Personal Education for Teachers, Too [...]

By: Rebekah Thompson

Rebekah Thompson — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:27:43 +0000

Rebecca,

I too have taken part in many PD classes that have been a waste of time. I love the idea of small group trainings, but where I teach, we don’t have enough personnel knowledgeable in this area at this time. One thought I have that would make PD more efficient in this area is to have a training once a month. My personal children go to school in a different county in which I teach, and they have a early release day the first Thursday of each month. This would be a great time to introduce a new method and give teachers a month to practice and implement the new technique. As we get more faculty trained in this area, I hope we too can implement small group training and mentoring.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:51:34 +0000

Rebekah,

As you stated in your initial post it is time for teachers to be educated on technology. PD is clearly the only way this can take place, but how can it work successfully? Most teachers have been part of a PD training that was a waste of their time. At my school we have small group technology tranings that have been very effective. One-on-one mentoring, while great, would be impossible to implement. The small group trainings that I have been a part of at my school has more effectively met my needs with the technology than the larger PD trainings. Additionally, interspersed in the trainings, my school has provided work sessions where the trainer is avaialble to answer questions and oversee work. This helps for teachers to develop their skill with support. This has turned into a small group mentoring situation where my small group is also avaialble to assist me on a daily basis as well.

By: Whose student is it anyway? « My Walkabout

Whose student is it anyway? « My Walkabout — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:11:18 +0000

[...] entry was inspired by a line in a quote from Will Richardson’s blog Personalizing Education for Teachers, Too “Great teachers have always understood that their real role is not to teach subjects but to [...]

By: links for 2009-03-06 « Brent Sordyl’s Blog

links for 2009-03-06 « Brent Sordyl’s Blog — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:01:23 +0000

[...] Personalizing Education for Teachers, Too The key to this transformation is not to standardize education but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of the each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions (238). The curriculum should be personalized. Learning happens in the minds and souls of individuals–not in the databases of multiple-choice tests (248). (tags: e-learning kenrobinson) [...]

By: Jennifer Clark Evans

Jennifer Clark Evans — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:36:22 +0000

There seem to be two threads to this conversation 1) how to best engage students and 2) how to best engage teachers. And, the answer seems to be the same-with direct one-on-one interpersonal interactions and guidance. This is an area that I am always trying to improve in my own teaching practices. And this conversation only solidifies for me its importance. Although time is always an issue, building meaningful connections with other people doesn’t have to take a long time. It’s the little things you do to show interest in the person. When you show that kind of interest more times than not the student reciprocates with giving your subject a more open-minded approach.
The same goes with helping colleagues open up to discovering the many opportunities that web 2.0 has to offer to the learning experience. Reaching out to them where they are, hearing their concerns, and giving them practical help where they need it will make their transition even smoother and hopefully “light the fire” within them which could spread to others. Is this too optimistic? I hope not. I can’t see our institutions changing significantly any other way.

By: Rebekah Thompson

Rebekah Thompson — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:54:51 +0000

Rebecca,
Time always seems to be an issue. While we as educators want to meet the personal needs and learning strategies of students, meeting the curriculum guidelines for standardized testing tends to get in the way. As John mentioned, we need to personalize learning, but where is the time? It is critical that as we incorporate technology in the classroom, we instruct the students properly and stress and reiterate the importance of safety. But first, teachers need to take the time to learn correct procedures and operations before they try to jump in feet first into an unknown or unfamiliar area.

By: U Tech Tips » Latest Web Marks 03/05/2009

U Tech Tips » Latest Web Marks 03/05/2009 — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:34:08 +0000

[...] Weblogg-ed » Personalizing Education for Teachers, Too [...]

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:31:34 +0000

Individualized education is clearly a technique that is meaningful to the ones involved, and therefore is one of the most effective tools for teaching. However, the reality is that teachers do not have the flexibility to work one on one with every student completing their own individualized assignments in all counties and curriculums. For example, in my district, formative and summative assessments for each unit are provided as well as specific dates that all of the aforementioned assessments need to be completed by. It is therefore my task to create lessons that will reach as many individuals as possible as often as possible. Additionally, I find that as a teacher I am able to use my passion for a topic to help the students to see the purpose and excitement in the topic. Teaching middle school, many students do not really know what their passion is or what they might want to pursue in their lives. At times, expressing my passion has passed on the fervor and created a passion for some of my students.

In reference to technology, I am currently pursuing a personal study in the integration of technology through a higher learning program. Technology is one facet to help teachers connect with their students. While I might have personal familiarity with new “web 2.0” technologies in my personal life, such as blogs, wikis and podcasts, I am still learning ways to implement them into my classroom. I find with technology, it is most important for teachers to be unafraid to play and explore. Fear of messing up or breaking the technology is what inhibits most educators from using new technology. While a mentor to help with technology would be ideal, it often would not be necessary with a bit of confidence and investigation.

The one complaint that I have encountered so far with the integration of technology in the classroom is having the time available to work with the students on the new technologies and introducing the procedures. It is important to instruct students on how to use the technology properly and safely, and with my severe lack of free time, I struggle to complete this successfully. I know I would only have to introduce the technology once, but the time it takes for instruction is important for our students, but is restricted by my curriculum’s pace and requirements.

By: The Importance of Developing a Personal Learning Network « Musings from the Academy

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:27:14 +0000

[...] Will Richardson’s post on Personalizing Education for Teacher’s, Too [...]

By: John

John — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:24:05 +0000

nothing could be truer than this statement

The key to this transformation is not to standardize education but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of the each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions (238). The curriculum should be personalized. Learning happens in the minds and souls of individuals–not in the databases of multiple-choice tests (248).

when i was a student i always felt that most teachers do not care about the connection you are making. it’s a shame and when i did get a teacher that wanted to utilize my traits for my character development as well as my school development it lead to me doing better.