I think my favorite part of Shelly Blake-Plock's post was when he said, "We live in a culture that tells us that you learn from your mistakes, yet which continually punishes and shuns those who make mistakes. It is teachers who have the power to change this". I connected mostly with this part because it relates directly to the children that I teach.
Often, gifted children have the idea that they can never be wrong or make mistakes. This is usually true for them in their regular classroom because many times the work that they do is actually too easy for them. However, I think it is very important that they learn quickly, through the gifted class, that there are many "smart" people out there and they have many things to learn. It was very interesting for me to see Blogs as a way of helping them realize this.
I think it would be a really neat project to have my students Blog about different academic topics of interest and have them elicit responses from others. This could help them learn different ways of thinking about things and help them realize that people may not always agree with their thoughts and ideas. Some of them could definitely use the lesson in humility.
The article Why Teachers Should Blog was really interesting. The author summed up a lot of my previous thoughts regarding the old saying "We learn from our mistakes," but we live in a world where mistakes are looked down upon. I believe in speaking your mind, I also believe in teaching children manners and about other cultures, so speaking your mind is done respectfully. I absolutely agree with this article and feel very strongly about teachers being a medium through which students learn. Teachers have the ability to make a strong positive impression or a negative impression. I believe that it is my job to encourage conversation and expose children to the feeling of being incorrect. Reflecting on our thoughts and actions is a great tool for self growth. I often enjoy asking my students why they responded with certain answers or what led them to their thought. The self reflection is often very advantageous because my students are able to think about their thinking. I also feel that blogging is similar to journal writing, just a different means of writing. Teachers should blog their thoughts and ideas. Blogs are an open place to receive opinions or criticism that can also help us grow. As an educator I always had the mentality that I am a lifelong learner and blogging can help me express my daily thoughts. It allows me to gather feedback from outsiders who may see my circumstance from a completely different perspective. They would be able to provide unique insight to my situations and thoughts. I enjoy learning and when I make a mistake I enjoy discovering different ways to look at a situation. I always hope to instill that same mentality in my students. I agree that blogging is a helpful tool to assist in teaching yourself what to think. When we write things down we tend to reflect on them or really think about how we want to word what we are saying. Blogs are the just the means or tool to do so.
@Heather, I completely agree with your statement about gifted children having this idea in their heads that they can never be wrong. It is such a shame when my second grade students cry or become angry due to mistakes made in class. I constantly remind my students that the reason why they are in school is to learn and mistakes happen along the way. I agree that a lot of students could use a lesson in humility. I think parents could also use a lesson in encouraging students to try new things and parents need strategies on how to address losing or mistakes with their children. The "do no wrong, I'm the best" attitude is too common in households today.
@Chera I think you brought up a great point when you said journal writing can be similar to blogging. I know the young students in my district do "kid writing" everyday. They have a journal that they keep where they draw a picture and write a story about it. Relating this to blogging gave me the idea of using this type of journal writing with students as a means to communicate more with others. Maybe they would share their journals with other students and respond in the journal to another student's story. This can be a great way to simulate blogging for younger students whose parents may be a bit concerned about allowing them to have access to that type of technology.
I also agree with you that it is such a shame to see students get so upset over making a mistake. It is definitely important for teachers to model that making a mistake is not a bad thing but actually an opportunity to learn. They should see that we are human and make mistakes also.
I think that blogging is the new way of journaling. Many people journal or write reflections about their teaching. But blogging takes it one step further, where people can respond to your thoughts. This, in turn, allows the author to contemplate new ideas or revaluate their current thinking about certain topics. I try to instill that sense of ‘it is okay to wrong and not to be embarrassed’ in my sixth grade students. I start off every class at the beginning of the year with that discussion. It is okay to be wrong, that is how we learn. We discuss how Thomas Edison tried many, many times to create the light bulb. He just learned numerous ways how not to make a light bulb. I even talk about how Coke was created on accident. Its original purpose was medicinal. Teachers and students blogging back and forth and the students with each other can create an open and free discussion about so many curriculum based subjects. Students need to be taught how to blog without being hurtful or demeaning. It is okay to disagree but not to use hurtful language. They need to see that a discussion is not meant to be disrespectful but thought provoking. Blogging may help to improve the metacongnitive skills that are so important not only in school but for the rest of their lives.
@Heather I know what you mean about the gifted children often being right because the work they are given in class is easy for them to complete. I have had many students who fall in to this area. A little dose of humility is usually needed in their cases. I find that those children often have difficulty being accepted by their classmates because they are deemed the “know-it-all.” Blogging about different topics of interest would be a great way for them to express their thoughts and see the thoughts and opinions of others in a safe learning environment. With teacher overview and feedback on the blog postings the students can share new ideas and revamp their thinking. This way they can be more empathetic to the thoughts and ideas of their classmates as well. Susan
@Chera Your statement about living in a world where mistakes are looked down upon rings true every day in my classroom. I know that I had said this before but when teaching the younger students, I noticed that they aren’t afraid to be wrong and try new things. They want to learn new ways to do things. However, now that I have been teaching middle school students I see that they are fearful of what their classmates will say if they are wrong. I am constantly trying to create an environment where my students feel free to make mistakes. Our school website does have a place where we can post discussion topics. I rarely post a discussion thread because we cannot mandate that the students respond while at home (not every student has access to a computer or I hear that their computer is not working). However, after reading the blog postings, I feel that I can provide that open discussion through the thread while the students are at school. They have access to plenty of technology at the school and if I provide the time, the same discussions can happen as if they were blogging from home.
@Susan I think it is great that you have a discussion about making mistakes with your students right at the beginning of the year. It is true that some of the smartest or most successful people in our history had to get things wrong many times before getting it right! That is a very important lesson.
I know this is very difficult for middle school students to accept though. They are at an age where they are so self-conscious and reliant on what their peers think about them. I think the only way for teachers to help them overcome that fear is to make their classroom as comfortable of a learning environment as possible.
@Susan, I love how you spend time in the beginning of your school year to address the idea of being wrong. I think it's so important for students to take chances and be comfortable knowing that everyone makes mistakes and that we can learn a lot from our mistakes. I find that my students struggle the most when I give them a choice to write or draw anything that they want. I see the concern about not being right come out in many of my students. They are constantly asking for clarification or permission and when I say it's up to you, you can do anything that you want my students seems to be uneasy with the freedom of choice. I find a direct connection with this and not wanting to be wrong. I have just recently signed up for a kidblog.org account and I am hopeful that my students embrace the idea of blogging with classmates.
I think my favorite part of Shelly Blake-Plock's post was when he said, "We live in a culture that tells us that you learn from your mistakes, yet which continually punishes and shuns those who make mistakes. It is teachers who have the power to change this". I connected mostly with this part because it relates directly to the children that I teach.
ReplyDeleteOften, gifted children have the idea that they can never be wrong or make mistakes. This is usually true for them in their regular classroom because many times the work that they do is actually too easy for them. However, I think it is very important that they learn quickly, through the gifted class, that there are many "smart" people out there and they have many things to learn. It was very interesting for me to see Blogs as a way of helping them realize this.
I think it would be a really neat project to have my students Blog about different academic topics of interest and have them elicit responses from others. This could help them learn different ways of thinking about things and help them realize that people may not always agree with their thoughts and ideas. Some of them could definitely use the lesson in humility.
~Heather
The article Why Teachers Should Blog was really interesting. The author summed up a lot of my previous thoughts regarding the old saying "We learn from our mistakes," but we live in a world where mistakes are looked down upon. I believe in speaking your mind, I also believe in teaching children manners and about other cultures, so speaking your mind is done respectfully. I absolutely agree with this article and feel very strongly about teachers being a medium through which students learn. Teachers have the ability to make a strong positive impression or a negative impression. I believe that it is my job to encourage conversation and expose children to the feeling of being incorrect. Reflecting on our thoughts and actions is a great tool for self growth. I often enjoy asking my students why they responded with certain answers or what led them to their thought. The self reflection is often very advantageous because my students are able to think about their thinking.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that blogging is similar to journal writing, just a different means of writing. Teachers should blog their thoughts and ideas. Blogs are an open place to receive opinions or criticism that can also help us grow. As an educator I always had the mentality that I am a lifelong learner and blogging can help me express my daily thoughts. It allows me to gather feedback from outsiders who may see my circumstance from a completely different perspective. They would be able to provide unique insight to my situations and thoughts.
I enjoy learning and when I make a mistake I enjoy discovering different ways to look at a situation. I always hope to instill that same mentality in my students. I agree that blogging is a helpful tool to assist in teaching yourself what to think. When we write things down we tend to reflect on them or really think about how we want to word what we are saying. Blogs are the just the means or tool to do so.
@Heather, I completely agree with your statement about gifted children having this idea in their heads that they can never be wrong. It is such a shame when my second grade students cry or become angry due to mistakes made in class. I constantly remind my students that the reason why they are in school is to learn and mistakes happen along the way. I agree that a lot of students could use a lesson in humility. I think parents could also use a lesson in encouraging students to try new things and parents need strategies on how to address losing or mistakes with their children. The "do no wrong, I'm the best" attitude is too common in households today.
ReplyDelete@Chera
ReplyDeleteI think you brought up a great point when you said journal writing can be similar to blogging. I know the young students in my district do "kid writing" everyday. They have a journal that they keep where they draw a picture and write a story about it. Relating this to blogging gave me the idea of using this type of journal writing with students as a means to communicate more with others. Maybe they would share their journals with other students and respond in the journal to another student's story. This can be a great way to simulate blogging for younger students whose parents may be a bit concerned about allowing them to have access to that type of technology.
I also agree with you that it is such a shame to see students get so upset over making a mistake. It is definitely important for teachers to model that making a mistake is not a bad thing but actually an opportunity to learn. They should see that we are human and make mistakes also.
I think that blogging is the new way of journaling. Many people journal or write reflections about their teaching. But blogging takes it one step further, where people can respond to your thoughts. This, in turn, allows the author to contemplate new ideas or revaluate their current thinking about certain topics.
ReplyDeleteI try to instill that sense of ‘it is okay to wrong and not to be embarrassed’ in my sixth grade students. I start off every class at the beginning of the year with that discussion. It is okay to be wrong, that is how we learn. We discuss how Thomas Edison tried many, many times to create the light bulb. He just learned numerous ways how not to make a light bulb. I even talk about how Coke was created on accident. Its original purpose was medicinal.
Teachers and students blogging back and forth and the students with each other can create an open and free discussion about so many curriculum based subjects. Students need to be taught how to blog without being hurtful or demeaning. It is okay to disagree but not to use hurtful language. They need to see that a discussion is not meant to be disrespectful but thought provoking. Blogging may help to improve the metacongnitive skills that are so important not only in school but for the rest of their lives.
Susan
@Heather
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the gifted children often being right because the work they are given in class is easy for them to complete. I have had many students who fall in to this area. A little dose of humility is usually needed in their cases. I find that those children often have difficulty being accepted by their classmates because they are deemed the “know-it-all.” Blogging about different topics of interest would be a great way for them to express their thoughts and see the thoughts and opinions of others in a safe learning environment. With teacher overview and feedback on the blog postings the students can share new ideas and revamp their thinking. This way they can be more empathetic to the thoughts and ideas of their classmates as well.
Susan
@Chera
ReplyDeleteYour statement about living in a world where mistakes are looked down upon rings true every day in my classroom. I know that I had said this before but when teaching the younger students, I noticed that they aren’t afraid to be wrong and try new things. They want to learn new ways to do things. However, now that I have been teaching middle school students I see that they are fearful of what their classmates will say if they are wrong. I am constantly trying to create an environment where my students feel free to make mistakes.
Our school website does have a place where we can post discussion topics. I rarely post a discussion thread because we cannot mandate that the students respond while at home (not every student has access to a computer or I hear that their computer is not working). However, after reading the blog postings, I feel that I can provide that open discussion through the thread while the students are at school. They have access to plenty of technology at the school and if I provide the time, the same discussions can happen as if they were blogging from home.
@Susan
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you have a discussion about making mistakes with your students right at the beginning of the year. It is true that some of the smartest or most successful people in our history had to get things wrong many times before getting it right! That is a very important lesson.
I know this is very difficult for middle school students to accept though. They are at an age where they are so self-conscious and reliant on what their peers think about them. I think the only way for teachers to help them overcome that fear is to make their classroom as comfortable of a learning environment as possible.
@Susan, I love how you spend time in the beginning of your school year to address the idea of being wrong. I think it's so important for students to take chances and be comfortable knowing that everyone makes mistakes and that we can learn a lot from our mistakes. I find that my students struggle the most when I give them a choice to write or draw anything that they want. I see the concern about not being right come out in many of my students. They are constantly asking for clarification or permission and when I say it's up to you, you can do anything that you want my students seems to be uneasy with the freedom of choice. I find a direct connection with this and not wanting to be wrong.
ReplyDeleteI have just recently signed up for a kidblog.org account and I am hopeful that my students embrace the idea of blogging with classmates.