Catch up DB 8…. FlashMob?!? Yes!

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.