Blog Post #5

Modernized. My Dream School

Do you remember that episode of Spongebob Square Pants where he goes into the future? Everything was silver, chrome, and shiny. It was very appealing, if I must say so myself. I actually liked the way it looked, very interesting.
But, No. I would not want a school that was chrome inside or even filled with shiny objects. That is not very smart. My dream school is student focused. What is the point of building a school besides to give students a "safe haven" where teachers encourage their classes, and others, to better themselves through educating themselves.
Can someone please explain to me how traditional white cinderblock walls are encouraging? Students should be interested with what they see when they walk through the doors to school every day. Pictures on the walls, art, and colors. I want the walls the scream creativity. Students art work will still be posted in the halls to promote creativity and show off progress. Student artwork, to me, is more creative on the walls than paying someone to paint artwork on the wall or buying paintings to decorate with. Yes, the students should have some pictures or paintings that they can use as inspirations or motivation for their own art work. Most professional artwork is a good guide for where artwork will eventually, progressively, get to in due time.
The halls will be filled with color. Each hallway a different color. Comfortable seating is mandatory as well. Since students do spend most of their day in their chairs they should be quite comfortable. I want stock the library with books that the students are interested in. To do this, I will send out a survey to the teachers to give to their students. In this survey will be a few questions about what the students are interested in reading.
All in all, I want my custom school to be more student oriented. Students are the future. It would be smart to give them the inspiration and drive now to create a better future and learning community.

Virtual Choir
This was phenomenal! It is brilliant to use technology this way. The panoramic view of the different people recording themselves singing the same song. Then, putting it together making an ensemble. The neatest thing to me is that they are so in tune together and on beat. It really is amazing that this many strangers can come together so well in harmony.

Kevin Roberts' Teaching in the 21st Century
I believe he means even though there are so many ways for students to go out there and find information quickly online, teachers can still be more of a source for information and teach. The information may be just a click away but who says the students know how to click? The students have to be taught how to search, what information will yield the best results, or how deep to look into information. I feel as though technology isn't harming our jobs but bettering our jobs and allowing us to be more hands on with the students while following curriculum guidelines/standards. We must be innovative with the technology available and create more outlets: blogging, podcasts, online forums, online presentations, etc.

Flipping A Classroom
I am iffy about the "flipped classroom" concept in an elementary school. I feel like students that young need more reinforcement in the classroom on content covered. Online learning somewhat takes away from the teachers job. They are no longer "teaching" the students but helping them better grasp the information. This does get rid of "burp back learning" because the teachers are no longer force feeding the students information. But, the students don't have to watch the videos nor do they have to complete the online homework or assignments. Obviously that reflects them and their grade. But it is a lot to expect out of a young student, in my opinion. Then, there are always the students who can't afford internet service or does not own a computer. It is not friendly to both low and high income based students. I am steadily thinking of a way to incorporate something along the lines of flipping a classroom without doing so much online work. Some technology incorporation will be necessary though.