Blog 3: Education Jubilee
Well, we had another guest speaker in this week, one Tyler Letkeman of Vincent Massey High School English teacher fame.
Overall, his message was this: use technology well and you'll see benefits.
Probably the one thing he showed us that I liked the most was Blurb, a self-publishing website. I've used Blurb before, and it's a great way to students' work into a professional-looking publication. The shipping charges are murder, though, so I dunno if VMHS has deep pockets for that or what.
One thing I'm a bit hesitant about is the use of memes in the classroom. Memes are interesting because they distill ideas down to an easily digested and easily spread form, but they also lack nuance and tend to oversimplify those ideas at the same time. Still, they are a way for students to express themselves, and we can't really be too opposed to that without turning into the teachers from Pink Floyd's The Wall.
Anyways, my question to you is: how do we bridge the cultural, attitudinal, and communicative gap between us as adult teachers and our students so we can understand what they value and what they need as learners, without coming across as ridiculous, creepy, or lame?
-cg
Overall, his message was this: use technology well and you'll see benefits.
Probably the one thing he showed us that I liked the most was Blurb, a self-publishing website. I've used Blurb before, and it's a great way to students' work into a professional-looking publication. The shipping charges are murder, though, so I dunno if VMHS has deep pockets for that or what.
One thing I'm a bit hesitant about is the use of memes in the classroom. Memes are interesting because they distill ideas down to an easily digested and easily spread form, but they also lack nuance and tend to oversimplify those ideas at the same time. Still, they are a way for students to express themselves, and we can't really be too opposed to that without turning into the teachers from Pink Floyd's The Wall.
Anyways, my question to you is: how do we bridge the cultural, attitudinal, and communicative gap between us as adult teachers and our students so we can understand what they value and what they need as learners, without coming across as ridiculous, creepy, or lame?
-cg
Great question - I hope you get some feedback!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great question. I think the biggest thing is that we as teachers need to be authentic (kids know when you're not and it shows), be present in your class and with your students, and deeply care/show compassion for your students.
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