Daily Creates

Drawing

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#tdc1765 Bigfoot is missing

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#tdc1665 When pigs fly (a TDC throwback)

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#tdc1630 Draw The House You Grew Up In

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#tdc1567 It’s My Birthday? I’ve Lost My Head? #shakespeare400

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#tdc1449 Sketch a Horse (of course)

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#tdc1712 Celebrate / Create for Dot Day

Pictures

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#tdc1784 Do a Duke Selfie

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#tdc1766 Make a still life with red items

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#tdc1740 Rain or shine, your city/town/burg is beautiful. Show us the magic

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#tdc1735 Are you a collector? Show us your obsession.

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#tdc1721 Seeing Faces

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#tdc1709 A Dozen of Anything EXCEPT Eggs

 

Writing

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As I was walking through a field of tall grass, I tripped over and HDMI cord and through t fast as I could and heard a splash. I ran over and saw a slightly rocky beach with some shells, apples, and a screw.

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The courageous orc and the dentist were in a small room writing piano music. They came up with the best song after days of writing music and the dentist threatened to take all of the credit so the orc killed the dentist and locked the body in the room with the piano.

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I write to express my emotions and thoughts with my friends and loved ones.

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Who’s behind that door? My mom always keeps a door locked at home and I always wondered who was behind it. When I walk by I hear a knock and I always ask who’s there and never get a response. I always ask what’s there and no one will ever tell me. To this day after 20 years I still hear that sad knock on the door and still wonder who is on the other side of that door.

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We all have dreams of that perfect happy place. The place where nothing can go wrong but then you finally get there and you are full of excitement. But then you start to explore and realize that place is missing something. You’re other half. You have this whole place to yourself but no one to share with and you never felt more lonely or sad than ever before.

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Hey there baby, would you like to try this banana?

For the love of god I said get away from me and take that banana with you!

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Honey! The horse got in the kitchen again.

Get out! Get out! Shoo, shoo, get out before I make stew out of out of you.

 

Let’s Address the Elephants in the (Class)Room.

Will Richardson’s article titled “9 Elephants in the (Class)Room That Should ‘Unsettle’ Us” is a very powerful read for future teachers and students alike. I think he makes some very good points that happen every day in school classrooms that are in desperate need of changing. There are three in particular that really catch my eye and I can relate to in my classroom experiences.

The first point that I can relate to in Richardson’s article is “we know that most of our students will forget most of the content that they ‘learn’ in school.” When the content is not applicable to students’ lives, why would they want to learn it? This is the sole reason that the content is quickly forgotten. I know I had many troubles, particularly in high school, remembering content. This was because I did not have a discipline of study like I  do now. I would go to each class only remembering bits and pieces of lectures I have gotten. This is one way I believe college has gotten the curriculum correct.

The second point that stuck out to me was the quote that stated, “we know that we’re not assessing many of the things that really matter for future success.” Many school teachers focus on basic skills and skills that can be easily assessed such as math, reading, English, or science. It is much harder for teachers to assess things such as “literacies, skills, and dispositions.” Knowing how to assess other than basic skills will further prepare students for the real world. Learning a test or memorizing facts will do us very little good in life.

The last point that stuck out to me was “we know that grades, not learning, are the outcomes that students and parents are most interested in.”This is still mostly holds true for me today. To keep scholarships, to get discounts on car insurance, to get on the honor roll, whatever it may be, grades are important in schools. What we learn is not an actual key motivator for most educators because we teach to the test. There are very few classes and teachers out there today who mainly go for what students learn compared to just giving grades. I wish there were more.

Between appearing to learn what is on tests and actually learning, actual learning is definitely more important. When you actually learn, you learn life skills and things about the world that may help you. Just knowing a test could be helpful in possibly an entrance exam but not much past that. Actually learning material in schools is key to a successful life.

9 Elephants in the (Class)Room that Should “Unsettle” Us

I Can Think For Myself, And So Can You!

This semester I have learned a lot about myself as a learner and as a thinker. This week’s blog is about being an innovative learner, and unlearning things that we have learned in the past that may be harmful to our learning process. I think that the biggest thing I have learned through this semester, and this class in particular, is that I can learn on my own. Yes, it is true that teachers often times provide most of the material or sources that we must use to facilitate our learning. This class has been mostly different in this aspect. There have been articles we have been required to watch and read but this was only for introductory purposes. I have learned so many new website and links that have been useful for future uses in my classroom.

First off, I have been innovative by picking and choosing different resources to use in my blog posts, and that I have shared on Twitter. Prior to this class I had only found things through Google because this is  what everyone uses. Google I now know is only a one stop place if you are on a last resort effort to find certain information. There are websites for just about everything, but you as the learner have to be innovative to find them.

My favorite quote from Couros’s “The Mindset of an Innovator” is “I believe that my abilities, intelligence, and talents can be developed, leading to the creation of new and better ideas.” My role as a future teacher is not one that should be taken lightly. I, as well as the students in the classroom should be expanding our minds every day, learning something new and interacting with different material. If I wanted, I could make a lesson plan the first year I am teaching and reteach this year after year. This does not work as a teacher who should be innovative. If I want to be an innovative teacher I have to see what works for the maximum student growth. Then I should adjust the assignment or completely scrap them depending on how they served the students.

George Couros “The Mindset of an Innovator

My favorite quote from Richardson’s “The Unlearning Curve” is “we need to unlearn the idea that every student needs to learn the same content when really what they need to learn is how to self-direct their own learning.” Literacy in the digital age class is all about how to self-direct our own learning and many classes have been like that for me this semester. This is important because there will not always be a teacher to help you through every situation in life.

Richardson’s The Unlearning Curve”

One quote from  Richardson’s “The Unlearning Curve” that I still need to unlearn is “we need to unlearn our fear of putting ourselves and our students “out there” for we’ve proven we can do it in safe, relevant and effective ways.” I have yet to fully put myself out there in terms of answering questions in class or asking questions to the teacher because I have found I can ask other classmates. The teacher is usually the best source to ask for help, I just need to let them know sometimes that I need help, just as everyone does.