http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/online-learning/best-practices-thoughts-flash-mob-mentality/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HybridPed+%28Hybrid+Pedagogy%3A+A+Digital+Journal+of+Teaching+%26+Technology%29

Best Practices: Thoughts on a Flash Mob Mentality

First off in the beginning of this article it attracted me because I read this; “Best Practices dictate that teaching writing should include loud music in a public place and synchronized dancing. In short, a flash mob.” I mean, if Best Practices are really going to be the end-all of pedagogy, I want them to be cool”.  Enough said. The way he incorporates his own experiences when working with children continued to keep my attention and wanted me to read on. His experience on teaching composition at a University was that he was required by a particular curriculum to ask each student to write a five-paragraph essay (no more, no less), with a thesis at the end of the introduction, three supporting paragraphs, and the thesis re-stated in the first line of the conclusion. This format was required for every student to use, no exceptions. To me that is the worse thing you can do as a teacher, forcing every uniquely different student to all write a same standard way. He continues on to state,” Faculty design pedagogy around the worst-case scenario and then apply that pedagogy to every student”. I have to agree with him that there is no such thing as a stupid student. Different bases of knowledge are in fact very evident and no student should be held back or pushed up to a standard they are not at. Every student has something valuable to teach the rest of us. Allowing students to participate in their own comfortable way like posting in an open Google Doc, talking in the dark, ect are many ways to get students engaged, helping them feel comfortable to be in a learning environment. “I’m not dismissing Best Practices entirely. I like the idea of having some guidelines that teachers can learn from, ideas I can share with my students”. He continues to state, “ But we should be a little more honest about what they are. Let’s not pretend that universal design solutions aren’t without problems. Let’s call them “Practices Worth Considering” or “Things You Could Try” or “Stuff That Just Might Work.” Let’s not assume that our students are all moving in the same direction, listening to the same music, and singing the same song. That’s not even a desirable outcome. Unless, of course, we’re doing a flash mob.

I can’t believe that this class is coming to an end. There were a lot of great discussions, articles, group projects, and blogging that we did in this class and I have learned so much in this class. I really enjoyed blogging each week. This is the type of work I like to do when it comes to class work. Answering questions and making evaluations and then posting it on the website for feedback not only by you, but also from other students in the class was very helpful. Literacy is always changing and evolving, and this class has supported my theory from the beginning. I really have to admit that I never really thought of gaming as a helpful tool to use in a classroom. I always thought of it as a waste of time and couldn’t be educational. After this class my thoughts on gaming is completely different. I can see it being useful in class for example the game, Zork. Zork may not have the graphic images that most games have today, but it gives the students the chance to think out of a box, to use their imagination, and also encourages people to work together to complete the game. Thank you Kim Jaxon for encouraging social media use in your class. That made this class even more interesting and seeing how passionate you are about what you were teaching just made me enjoy this class and strive to become as a great as a professor as you are.

During my internship I was really pleased to watch Ms. Morine on her first year as an English teacher for sophomores and juniors. I was able to grab such great ideas I would like to incorporate in my own class like the activity she called, Socratic Fishbowl. This worked so well with her students and it kept them engaged in the activity the whole time not allowing them to get disrupted with outside conversations. She always gave me copies of the students articles and allowed me to view homework turned in so I could see thought processes of each student. She even trusted me enough to grade her student’s responses on homework and encouraged me to write comments on their papers with my own thoughts and questions. I was so happy to have this experience!

I think that all of the presentations were awesome!!! I really enjoyed looking at all the different types of games that were available for us to observe with the video game group. I can see how people would be addicted to playing video games. I personally have not played video games since I was young playing Mario Brothers on my Sega system but I do see the appeal. My favorite game to play was the last one I observed where it had no graphic images and you had to read what was happening and then type in what you wanted to do. I thought that one was the best because it encourages children to use their brains and work together on a journey of trial and error. If you’re standing in front of a house and want to get in what do you do? I love it. I would use this in my classroom to get my students engaged in a fun activity where you have to think about what you want your character to do and physically type in the action. You have to think outside of the box and solve a level just by working together and figuring out what to do. I love it!! I am going to look up the game so I can play it now and I’m sure it will become addictive!

 

I was able to watch the entire film on Hobart Shakespeareans and it was amazing! I loved it!! Here is a guy who really goes way and beyond to get his students engaged and be more involved in his class rather than just lecture and give homework for the students to do at home. In the beginning of the year he lets his students know that they will have to take his class seriously and will have to take their free time at home and use it to get prepared for the play. He says in the film, ” Kill the TV, it’s the worst thing in your house”, and its true. Many children especially this day in age spend way too much of their time in front of a TV rather than studying and putting more effort into their studies. I found the diversity in his class really interesting as well. In his class he has almost all Latino and Asians in his class. Some of the kids had to learn English while still having the challenge of speaking their native tongues with their family at home. ” By learning Shakespeare they learn enormous amounts of vocabulary, discipline, teamwork, respect for one another” and I agree. His class clearly demonstrated these incredible qualities. I don’t know about any of you but i was crying when the children were reading ” Huckleberry Finn” in class and the emotion they displayed because they were so emotionally affected by the story was a great thing to see! After their performace at the end of the film and the good-bye’s began and each kid was so sad to move on and leave their teacher they began to cry. Just an amazing video and I wish I had him when I was back in elementary school.

As a group we talked about the disadvantages of social norms in our middle schools. We first reflected on our own school experiences. Most of us agreed that we have seen or acted experiences explained in our book.  The attitude of being ” too cool for school” was a major influence on our own stories and how being “popular” was something you strived for to feel accepted. We were able to take down certain parts in this book we thought would be good scenes when we make our book trailer. We were excited to see that some of our own memories were portrayed in the book. For explain; the “Do you like me?” note that many of us remember and seeing the note and having the decision to check the box yes, no or maybe. I even remembered getting one, checking yes, and then afterwards we never really talked to each other except for the occasional 25c ring or bracelet he gave me from a vending machine. It seemed cooler to have a boyfriend and gossip with your friends about having one then actually hanging out with him.  The bathroom graffiti were also on point. It happened all the time when you would walk into a bathroom stall and see something written down on the doors and walls. Hearts with names, phone numbers, bad words, and name calling were always present in my school years and even now in this college I still see it. I was telling my group I just saw writing on the door that said, ” Keep your head up!” which I thought was ironic and very humorous. Passing notes was also a big deal when you were in class. If you were fortunate enough to successfully pass a note back and forth without getting caught you thought of yourself as a master. It was also interesting about talking in our group and seeing that some of us grew up in totally different areas and valued very different things. For some their were those who grew up in the suburbs where BMV’s and Infinity’s were our first cars and we never really noticed or paid attention to see if there were people who didn’t carry around a yearbook because they couldn’t afford it. Then you have others where it was noticed and luxuries were different and many people couldn’t afford to do extra curricular activities and got jobs so they could pay for everything.  I did enjoy this book and would recommend it. I sure was able to reflect on my years in middle school and high school and seeing my actions and goals I had back then and now seeing them with different a perspective I have now was so interesting to me.