Category: Weekly Reflections

Today Rich came into our class to talk about creating/ editing videos in a way that can be helpful for your classroom. He started by breaking down the different aspects of video editing that can be helpful like adding sound/ music, using titles, credits, slow motion and cutting videos. He also talked about the importance of incorporating videos into your teaching, and the different ways you can do that. One thing I did not know that I learned was that you can put a larger video into your lessons, but you can start it at a different spot. So if you only want 30 seconds of a video, and that 30 seconds starts at 13 minutes into the video, you can input the video into your lesson at 13 minutes so when you are teaching your lesson in class, you do not have to spend time finding the right spot in the music.

After talking about videos, Rich gave us time to create our own videos, and using that time I created the video below.

This week we talked about the importance of multimedia learning. I had never considered just how much I relied and still do rely on multimedia for learning as I am someone who uses pictures and videos to reinforce concepts constantly. One point that we talked about that stood out to me was how multimedia allows us to see the unseeable. The example used to explain this idea was trying to teach students how to use a bike pump. When we talk them through the mechanics of what is happening inside of the bike pump, some students may understand, but most will not be able to visualize what is going on. By showing them a photo of the mechanisms working inside of the bike pump, students can then see the unseeable and connect the words to the concepts. To support this idea, we talked about how it is important to use pictures and videos that are relevant to the work that students are doing and that will support the explanation.

For example, if we are teaching our students about the rain cycle, we should use graphics that support and reinforce the concepts. This first photo below is great to see rain in real life, but it does not tell us anything about the cycle itself.

Nature Images In Rainy Season

A graphic like the one below would be much more helpful for students as it breaks down the different parts of the cycle and shows students how rain is created.

Water Cycle Precipitation

This week, Jesse came into our tech class to present on social media and digital literacy. His presentation was full of information, advice, and stories, but something that stood out to me was when he talked about how the students we work with in the future will not know a world without the internet and technology. I grew up in the early 2000s and while the internet was around during that time, the first iPhone did not come out till I was a bit older, and even then, no one in my close circle had a smartphone till I was even older. I grew up in a household with little to no technology/ internet. The only computer in our house was my dad’s work computer, which we were not allowed to use, our landline for phones, and a TV with no cable. I remember going with my mom to the public library or Blockbusters to pick out a Friday night movie and being shocked when I went to a friend’s house and they had an Xbox. Because of the way I grew up, it is even more crazy to think of how the internet and technology are all kids know now. To support that statement, Jesse then went on to talk about the importance of meeting kids where they are when it comes to technology. Because easy access to the internet and technology are students’ norms, it would not make sense to take it out of the classroom. Rather, the focus should be on integrating technology into the classroom safely and responsibly and educating students on digital literacy and how to be responsible online.

This week, we watched the film Most Likely to Succeed, directed by Greg Whiteley, where we followed a group of students through their day-to-day life at their school High Tech High in San Diego. While observing the students, we saw them prepare for their year-end exhibition, where they would present a project they had been working on throughout the year. While watching the film, there was a student who stood out to me named Brian. Brian had a very ambitious idea for his project and unfortunately did not finish it in time for the presentation. What I found very encouraging was that even once the presentation opportunity was over, he did not give up on the project and continued to work through it, even in the summer. He had support from the teachers and his parents to finish the project, but the drive came from him as it was a project that he was truly passionate about. Seeing this drive and passion come from a student was very inspiring. It encouraged me to look more into inquiry-based projects and activities and how I can incorporate them in my future classroom.

I also loved to see the amount of learning that Brian experienced due to his project not being done in time. As teachers, we tend to micro-manage our students with due dates, specific assignments, and deliberate instructions. All of this has its time and place, however, it does not allow students to learn independently. Brian’s teachers could have told him that he would not get his project done in time and encouraged him to change it to something more reasonable, but they didn’t. Because of this, Brian had to learn the hard way about time management and biting off more than you can chew. After working on this project, he will now know more about the organization and won’t make the same mistakes in the future. Mistakes are how we learn, and High Tech High allows students to make their own mistakes and learn from them.

Overall, I think that High Tech High has some really amazing components and lessons that we can choose from and incorporate into our future classrooms. These components can encourage us to think in a different, more out-of-the-box way when we approach teaching. I am not saying that every school should be like High Tech High, but it is encouraging to see schools question the norm of education and promote a different approach to teaching in general.