Hi Wannabes,
I also wrote down a novel-like narratives, sorry about that. Mark Twain's quote is resonating with me at this moment, "sorry, I don't have enough time to write shortly." Thanks for understanding. :) Alright, I have prepared 7 discussion topics for this week, which includes Dr. Beach's recommended topics as well. Here goes our topics for the content - multimodal texts. Thanks!
1.
What kinds of multimodal texts do you use in your classroom?
How do you help your students (or how could you) critique
them?
What do games have to do with a discussion of multimodal
texts?
Think about the modes you will be adding to your iBook
aricle.
How will they help a reader move to a more and deeper
understanding of your content?
2.
Boche’s article showcased Megan’s
lessons that integrated multimodal scaffolds, which looked very nicely and
thoroughly designed with an overarching theme. The theme question was "Considering the dynamics of biological and cultural diversity, can we mange for what we value?"(p. 581). Megan incorporated diverse multimodal content before, during, and after reading, e.g., video clips, news clips, and optical illusions. Nicely done indeed. However, I want to think about
any pitfalls or drawbacks of the design. Were there any limitations did you
find? Or, in what ways, does Megan’s way be better?
3.
Transfer? In Boche’s article, the
authors used “transfer” two times – on the first page at the subtitle-looking
like sentence and at the end of the article. I understand the authors’
intentions by using the word “transfer,” which seems to mean the “release of responsibility more to students from teachers." This notion is quite similar to the concept that was depicted in the IRT model. How good the notion is. Nonetheless, I personally take the word “transfer” in
education quite netagive as Friere critiqued the traditional one-way lecture
type of pedagogy by pointing out the phenomenon of “banking education.” To my teaching philosophy, learning
is not transferring, rather meaning-making and mind-transforming. I am wondering about
your feeling about this word in the text or generally in education/journalism.
What do you think about the authors’ use of “transfer” in the text, or in general?
4.
Multimodalities remind me of the
multiple intelligences by Gardner. I have believed that simulating multiple
intelligences when giving both input/output prompts will contribute to better
learning and meaning-making. Does multimodality have any relationship with
multiple intelligences? What do you think?
5.
When using multimodal texts/tools,
have you had any unexpected results from your students? I have one very
interesting example when I used multimodal texts for discussion. But, let me
tell you my experience after reading your stories first. Have you had any unexpected/surprising
results from your students/or colleagues?
6.
One additional question that I want to critique is this: "In addition to examining what
multimodality can bring to the classroom, we must also ask ourselves what will
be lost if we do not?" (p. 588). What I mean is that do we really have to use multimodal texts in digital ways to foster the reading ability to comprehend complex texts? Is is the only way? What if we have limited access to the technology? In what ways can we facilitate the higher-order reading skill although we do not have the cutting-edge technology? Can we realize any "analogue multi modality"?
7.
In the Blinded manuscript, the
authors used video-games as a scaffolding tool. What I really like their
articulation was that they said "scaffolding" for scaffolding the “abilities.” And, their
innovative ways of converting the terms were my favorite as well, e.g.,
read-aloud to play-aloud. My question to discuss is about one student example in
the text, Georgio. The authors reported that Georgio ignored the direction of closely reading a spreadsheet, because he wanted to jump in the game immediately.
Still, the teachers were able to assess his learning because he was prompted to
record what he learned. The authors mentioned nothing explicitly about his
behavior of not reading the spreadsheet. What do you think about him skipping
the first step because of the temptation of the game? Being a devil’s
advocate, this example seemed to go against the IRT model because Georgio did
not follow the modeling as he was supposed to do. If one of your
students/writing colleagues did this, how would you respond? Why?
PS. Any other questions/comments are always welcome! Thanks! :)
Well, as I digest your lovely, long blog (lol) I think I'll focus on 4 first. I completely think that multimodal texts work for multiple intelligence. By using something like a video or a game or a song, more than one kind of intelligence is activated. Even for a song, for example, that seems like it would work best with the musical intelligence, verbal-linguistic, existential, and intrapersonal will also be stimulated. Mix that with another medium to make it multimodal, let's say a video of a dance done to this music, and we hit our visual-spacial, interpersonal, and (if we then act out our own dances) body/kenesthetic intelligence. (I prefer this kind of teaching because, now knowing Gardner's multiple intelligences, I understand I'm a hard to teach existential, body/kenesthetic, visual-spacial, intrapersonal-type student). Even for students who don't learn in certain ways best, they will construct new things from their own interpretation in relation to the intelligences they are using more, regarding that one piece (e.g., a non-dancer may be visual spacial and see the dances of others to interpret their own look to their dance that may not have been available to them had they not mixed the multiple intelligences in the lesson).
ReplyDeleteAnd now for 7--that's how kids (and adults) learn. I'm obviously no teacher, lol, because I'm totally fine with a kid who doesn't learn that way skipping something that isn't working to go ahead and move on to something that is working--as long as it does, indeed, work. If anyone ever did that around me (and most of the people I know do) I would just make sure that they understood what they needed to get out of it, and that's that. I wouldn't call it so much of a temptation of the game, but rather the promise of getting to learn by doing something he's good at, understands, and knows he won't be wasting his time on. I feel that if one won't learn anything by doing something (e.g., reading aloud for a strong independently reading student) then that student shouldn't have to waste the time and effort doing it. But then again, I'm very much of the opinion that we should teach individuals in their own ways, and I know that this is not always possible.
How would you teacher folks handle a student like Georgio? I know it can be time consuming and difficult to allow some to do one thing and others to do another, but if it's a detriment to him to spend time doing something that he doesn't learn well from, shouldn't we provide an alternative? How would we balance that and our own time to be able to do something like that?
(Honestly, I think that's why multimodal texts work. While he plays the game, another student may prefer to read the spreadsheet and another may prefer to create something--and if that's all part of the same text, all the better)
I really enjoy getting perspectives outside our field--thank you Jacqueline. Regarding Gardner's multiple intelligences,that has always been an arena I've had to grapple with. I think I've looked at his intelligences more as aptitudes, but perhaps when the pendulum was swinging in education to match student's learning to their intelligence, we may have gone a bit overboard. Differentiating learning is one thing, but trying to match student learning to their specific area of "intelligence" was a bit overwhelming. I think we can take a different pathway--it goes against the current grain, but I think the concept is one to ponder seriously. I've just begun to investigate a site/program called Genius Hour. I'll be including this in my chapter of the iBook.
DeleteGenius Hour is about breaking the mold of the teacher filling in an instructional day with his/her intentions for learning, and give 1 hour a day for each student to pursue what they want to learn. It is based on an inquiry based learning model. Students come up with questions that pertain to what they wonder or what they want to investigate based on their interest and curiosity. The inquiry based projects/topics must include research, and the teacher is the facilitator in supporting each student toward gaining knowledge using new literacies and authentic resources to find answers to their questions.
I know kids (of all ages) would absolutely love this type of learning. As educators we are preparing them to use the tools of the 21st century, giving them a foundation in applying critical thinking skills to research and use their thinking abilities to pursue information---information that interests them.
In regard to the question about Georgio---the way I look at it is Georgio is excited about participating, and if he is experiencing the content without the "proper" sequence of recommended requests, well he will learn something from that experience. He will find out either he did or didn't need the background information first, and hopefully with reflection will have a strong take-away from his experiences. Kids learn by trial and error. The more we navigate for them, the less they take risks. There should be frameworks and different types of instruction, but not 1 framework, or 1 type of instruction will ever suffice for all students. Mix it up--try new things--be open to understanding all the different ways kids learn and process ideas. One of the great things about being a teacher is that every day is different, and no matter how much you think you "get" what kids are about, they will continue to surprise you on what they are capable of doing, explaining, and excelling in.
John, interesting question for #6. Over my reading this past summer and this semester, I've come to realize that there needs to be a new definition of literacy. I don't think multimodal learning is essential for all understandings of complex concepts and text. I believe there are new ways to instruct and use strategies for online reading comprehension, but complex text can be understood through collaboration, reflection, and a set of strategies that have been learned and implemented. Many instructional practices and strategies are the same for printed text and multimodal text, but the biggest difference I see is there are many higher-level thinking processes that almost have to act simultaneously that can create frustration for those that are engaging in acquiring information and knowledge (personally speaking as well). Acquiring, evaluating, and synthesizing information that is targeted and focused with the overwhelming amounts of information and links can be daunting for the most proficient reader. We have new roads to explore in literacy within our digital environment---strap in I say or be left in the dust.
DeleteI strongly agree with Barbara, I learn a lot from different perspectives, thanks Jacqueline! As we discussed, multimodal texts seem to quite tied into the multiple intelligences. We know that different people learn differently, so that I really like your phrase Jacqueline, "that's why multimodal texts work." This thought-threads have led me to think about our daily conversations as well. I think we do use multimodal texts when we communicate by using diverse texts, e.g., face expressions, differnt vocal tones, gestures, and sometimes we draw circles or lines to explain what we want to say. Maybe this type of pursing "muti-modality" would be based on human being's fundamental desires - consider the caveman's drawing. With that in mind, I think we should take the importance of multimodal "output process" into account when we assess students' comprehension. For example, we may ask students not only write a journal about a reading, but also have the modes of making "texts" out of reading more open. We may give them a prompt in this way: "Alright, everyone, after reading this book (or, comprehending the multimodal texts), you need to create a craft, either digitally or manually, that can showcase your comprehension of the main message and the details of the complex reading." They may create a YouTube video, an animated film, a puppet show, a symbolic painting, or even a set of dance. What do you think about this idea? Would this idea be too much expansion of this concept?
DeleteI love that idea, honestly. I do think it's important for students to learn to do research and properly, critically assess Internet and other technological resources, but that does not have to be the sum total of multimodality. (Though I would encourage students to use two mediums to mesh together to create something new to explain it — video+creation, play+music, website+game — to encourage true multimodality.)
DeleteI personally love Georgio, because he is so natural, active, and adventurous. Like Barbara and Jacqueline said, children learn through trial and error. It is very interesting to see Georgio's example by thinking that his behavior of skipping the directed steps was related to avoiding a detrimental way of learning something. It can be, maybe, Georgio hates following a static manual, but he's better learning through diving into a tool or contents directly with the huge amount of curiosity - but, still his approach would be based on his prior experiences or knowledge. This topic reminds me of one of my friends, he is an early adopter of technology tools. I often consulted him when buying a digital camera or smartphone. I was a go-by-the-manual person before talking to him. I usually open a thick manual to learn how to use the tools. But, he said, "John, don't waste your time reading that thick manual. Just push the power button, play around with it. If you have any questions, Google it or ask it in a web forum." Frankly, I still read manuals occasionally, but I follow a mixed method. :) Probably, Georgio might have this type of approach. What type are you more cling to? Go-by-the-manual? Or, push-the-power-and-play?
DeleteI really like Barbara's comment as well: "they will continue to surprise you on what they are capable of doing, explaining, and excelling in." I do strongly believe that, and this is the most shinning part of teaching profession I think. I presented my best teacher's story at the ProSeminar class, who taught me math when I was in high school. She came to my school at 7 am, although she didn't need to do so, because I asked her help learn my math study more in order to go to a college - my school was specialized for the Air Force science - only one hour of math per week. So, I proudly share her story with my ProSem classmates, and tell her that story. She said, "Thanks John. I have never imagined to be surprised in this way. Teaching is indeed a wonderful job." I am not sure whether this story is relevant for this discussion, however, the more we open our minds/pedagogy/instruction as a teacher, the more our students will surprise us, not even right now, but maybe even 10 years later. I believe you had this type of experiences as well, both as a student or as a teacher. Would you like to share one?? :)
Delete"(Honestly, I think that's why multimodal texts work. While he plays the game, another student may prefer to read the spreadsheet and another may prefer to create something--and if that's all part of the same text, all the better)"
DeleteJacqueline- yes, Yes, YES! I could not agree more! While multimodal texts trigger thoughts of Gardner's "Multiple Intelligences" with you folks, it had me moving towards Carol Ann Tomlinson's "Differentiated Instruction." (It is worth noting that in some respects the two are closely related.) In fact, I spent the entire day today discussing how teachers can better meet the needs of their students through the use of differentiated instruction. Tomlinson readily addresses the issue that although the majority of classroom teachers will readily admit that DI is what's best for the kids in their classrooms, few of them actually implement it. One of the biggest challenges in incorporating DI is the amount of preparation it requires, so part of me wonders if utilizing more Web 2.0 tools and multimodal texts could alleviate some of the (overwhelming) factors that prevent teachers from doing what they know is best for students. We did not dive into the subject of utilizing Web 2.0 or multimodal texts within DI in our conversation today, but I will certainly bring it up with my team tomorrow.
Barbara- Genius Hour sounds very interesting! I can't wait to see how you incorporate it into your chapter and to learn more about it.
DeleteYeah, Genius Hour reminds me of the Google 20% concept, Google allows all employees to send 20% of their working hours to think about anything they want. Then they get lots of good innovative ideas to make the world better.
DeleteJust curious, is Genius Hour free? It sounds too good to be free to me. :)
GeniusHour
DeleteLook what I stumbled upon tonight??? Pretty gosh darn fun!
oops, I swear that was supposed to say darn. lol
Deletelol... ok just to clarify... that is D A R N not D A M
DeleteI'd love to know your story from #5, but I have no stories to give you of my own...
ReplyDeleteHi Jacqueline, my example for #5 (an unexpected result of using multimodal texts) is not that beautiful story, but an interesting one. Here it goes. :) I taught a University Reading and Writing class over the last summer session, and I used several top-tier newspaper articles for reading materials (New York Times, CNN, and etc). Most of my students loved the choices, because the readings were not from the textbooks, rather were more related to their daily life. Some topics included using drones for commercial purposes, the Nepal earthquake, and Pope Francis' visit to the US. They were quite engaged in reading the papers again and again as I prepared interactive activities, e.g., a poster session, making a test paper for peers, and a presentation project. We use the computer lab quite often for them to utilize any multimodal resources as much as they want. The thing is that one student behaved in totally unexpected way. He located the news paper article, (which was okay), and he copied all the lines and pasted them into the Google translator. He read the Chinese version of the article, and it was quite shocking to me. After glancing his screen for a few minutes, I thought it would be okay, because he can comprehend the contents more clearly, and anyways, eventually he must make an output of the content in English langauge - my assumption was that he must process the contents in both languages and more in English when presenting. However, a critique could arise because the class topic was READING and writing in English. He's doing well in his coursework now with other teachers. But, this was a totally unexpected result when I used multimodal texts. If I hadn't given them the multimodal text options, this thing may've not happened at all. However, honestly, I value their mind-transforming and meaning-making processes beyond their choice of "language," so that I would keep opening their multimodal choices even if they want to use the translator. But, at some point, this notion sounds too ideal as well. What do you think? Would you allow a student to use google translator although he is learning English as a second language? Or, have you had this type of unexpected result by integrating multimodal texts?
DeleteThat's pretty smart of him John. Did he create his response in Chinese and use Google translate to put it in English? ;)
DeleteNow that you've shared your example it made me think of one experience my last year teaching. I never would have thought of this had it not been for you sharing your story, so thank you for prompting my thinking!
My fourth grade students had each selected a country from around the world and were researching how Christmas or other cultural holidays are celebrated. For their designated country they had to include the country, continent, population, capital, primary language, how to say "Merry Christmas" in that language, what Santa is called in that country, food eaten on Christmas, and 3 interesting facts or traditions about the celebration in that country. I reviewed the expectations and requirements, then gave them a few pre-selected websites to explore and sent them on their way (figuratively speaking, as we were all seated in the same computer lab at the same time). As I circulated around I assisted students as needed, asking questions, etc. One student, who had previously been working, was now sitting, staring at her computer, nearly paralyzed. I noticed that she was no longer on any of the pages that I had suggested, so I asked if she was ok. She kind of shook her head so I kept pressing her for info. Turns out she had clicked on one of the links for more information about her country (Denmark) and ended up at a site with some additional information. Now, just to clarify, she was one of my lower performing students, and although she tried really hard, she struggled with several aspects of reading. She eventually looked up at me and said "Ms. Cross, I'm not so sure I want to learn about this country anymore." When asked why, she replied with "There's a town there with the f-word in it." I was a little taken aback and asked her to whisper the town name in my ear, assuming that maybe she had just mispronounced it. I nearly fell over laughing when she quietly whispered "Middlefart."
Last summer I spent 2 weeks in Germany and Denmark, and made a special stop to have lunch, and of course take a picture, in Middlefart just for her :)
Wow, I just read this amazing story now. Bravo to her! How was Middlefart? Im sure that is a pretty area. lol. This type of unexpected reactions is one of the beauty of our profession. Maybe that memory would work positively for her as well. She may get interested in history of a city name or geology....maybe...because that moment was meaningful to her. :) I am just wondering about her work. How was her work? Did she get through the area including Middlefart? :) Thanks for sharing again. :)
DeleteJohn, I reread your question #3 again. I know what you mean when you speak of transfer in regard to Friere. Once you read his books, it's hard to relinquish his verbiage--it is pretty powerful. Transfer for me does take on a few different connotations. I think of transfer initially when I think of communicating with another person. I think of having the abilities to transfer my thinking in an articulate and understandable manner so as that person can connect with me and what I'm trying to communicate. Of course there is the transfer of responsibility that exists in scaffolding a student's learning. The transfer isn't so much in having them reiterate information that has been given, but rather a transferring of the baton (if you will) to continue the process of making meaning and learning without the support of the instructor. Communication is a tricky thing--some days I think I excel in it, and then Whamo! I feel like I can't communicate any of my thinking, and my vocabulary is minimal. Similar to the feeling at the end of every semester in graduate school!
ReplyDeleteThat's me nearly every other day, lol.
DeleteYes, probably that is the moment when we need the adult beverage, lol, - yes, I also think my vocabulary is minimal always, but it is expanding a little day by day thanks to you all. :)
DeleteBTW, I really like your phrase about the different perspective of transfer, Barbara, "...but rather a transferring of the "baton" to continue the process of making meaning..." Wow, I never thought about that in this way; transferring baton...how nice it is! The first runner should run at the appropriate speed, as does the second runner in order to take the baton well. I really like this metaphor. :)
John, do share Korean metaphors when they are applicable. I'm curious to compare-- And Jacqueline..no way will I accept your vocabulary is minimal--nice try. I've read enough of your writing in the blog to know different. You are a very talented and gifted writer. I truly want to come to K-20 and see for myself what mindsets, frameworks, and thought processes go into creating the products that you create. I'm envious of your creativity.
DeleteHmm, "teaching them how to fish, instead of giving fish?" this might be a Korean metaphor of this concept. But...I know we have this phrase in English as well. It is fascinating to see different cultures share similar wisdom or proverbs just in different contexts.
DeleteMaybe, "teaching your friend to push "shift+command+4" to screenshot, instead of giving her a screenshot you made." lol
Hahahaha- that was fantastic!
DeleteBarbara I'm with you on this one. Jacqueline sold herself waaaaay short with that comment.
Since starting school this semester I am always losing words. Words I know. Words I have used regularly for years. Words that I try to use in just any, ordinary conversation are now just {poof} GONE when I try to use them. It's quite ridiculous actually.
Anyways, I don't know who Friere is, but I had never thought of the word transfer in a negative light before. From a morphology approach (which shouldn't shock you John), fer is a latin root meaning carry, bring, or bear and trans is a latin prefix meaning across. So transfer literally means carry across.
If you think about the way it is used in the Boche article, do you see it relating more to the literal definition? I can't make the connection in the first use, but I think it really makes sense with the second use. I included the sentence from the article below.
"With the increased emphasis on complex texts in the CCSS, the response should not only be on increasing the amount or intensity of classroom instruction, but it should also be on teaching transferable skills to help students who will actually be doing the bulk of the work."
Thoughts?
Hey guys. I tried to post this morning during my break, then again at lunch, and again after school, but blogger seemed to be having some issues. Instead of the Comment box, it was showing our entire blog page minimized inside the box. It was very weird!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I composed a response in word and will paste it in below. Sorry for the delay.
I was back at MetroTech Springlake again this morning and experienced the same issue. Has me wondering if the security settings on their wifi prevents access or limits loading of the page. OKCPS has crazy restrictions on what can be accessed via their wifi (seriously not a single blogging site can be accessed), so maybe that's what the case was at Metrotech too.
DeleteOops, sorry about the tech problem. The restrictions in a school district is a very controversial topic I think. I heard that some districts restrict, intentionally or not, the National Geography site. Just curious; what is the trend of the administrators' thoughts about the restrictions? The more restriction is the better maybe?
DeleteSo, philosophical restrictions vs practical restrictions are two different things regarding tech limitations in our district.
DeleteMustang schools have a bring your own device, open wifi policy that is working very well for them. OKCPS won't even consider it because their wifi is so decrepit that even guest presenters who have been paid to come to our schools and central office have to nearly sign away their first born child to get wifi access.
Accessibility limits fall under the same sort of challenge. Rather than set parameters to allow a select few blogging sites, it is easier (read LAZIER) to just block them all through a server filter that recognizes the "blog" label on ANY blogging site and restricts it. Funny enough (well actually not really funny at all), we pay pretty good money to have our entire system housed through google now, but they have the security settings set so that we can't access Blogger. (recall my troubles that first week I was trying to post). No one. Not even teachers. Honestly, it's not only lame, but it's kind of a disservice to our kiddos.
Thanks for sharing that. I understand there should be reasons behind their policy, however, I really hope things get better like Mustang case. I believe students are aware of what's allowed and what's not in a school district. If not, then it is a good timing to teach them the netiquette. This is because that is what's happening just outside of the classroom walls, they can access any Internet sources - regardless of the appropriateness, by using the Internet at home. Hmm, it's a big dilemma in 21st classroom. I do believe, however, Mustang case with several global citizenship programs as necessary would be better for the aforementioned reason. Any thoughts? :)
DeleteSo this week I took a different approach to our readings and this blog. I waited to read the articles and chapters until after John had posted the discussion items in order to get a framework or “filter” by which to read. I would relate this strategy to the test prep strategy “Always read the questions first. This will help you to focus your attention and direct you to the parts of the reading passage that are most important for you to understand.” Unfortunately, as I read question #7, I found myself getting a little defensive and upset. (Nothing specific to you John, or even what you said, but more of a reflection of my general frustration with what is going on in schools around the country, and even more specifically within OKCPS, my schools, and with my teachers.)
ReplyDeleteI found myself having numerous questions while reading this article. I think it is safe to assume (although I was slightly frustrated that it was not provided in the article itself) that the “Georgio incident” is set in an elementary school classroom. I also found it difficult to process the benefit of this particular lesson without knowing what the desired outcomes were, meaning what was the specific content standard that the teachers were addressing with the use of this particular finance simulation game. I am also uncertain as to the benefit of “having students record “evidence” of learning while they were playing …so they could reflect on what they learned.” The authors state that it was the teacher’s intention to have the students write in an effort to get them to slow down as well, however anyone with experience in an elementary setting knows that these desired outcomes are highly unlikely in this particular type of setting and activity, particularly during the first few exposures to the activity. Finally, and I know this is pushing into a whole different area and I should really get off my soapbox, but I certainly hope that there will be additional instruction, practice, and assessment related to the targeted skills. Too often (again, related to what I observe in classrooms) teachers bring in high-interest activities to engage students, but then completely fail to make connections, provide adequate instruction, or authentic assessment, as if having the students participate (or in this case, play the game) is enough to say that they’ve “taught the standard.”
So anyways, I would argue pretty strongly that it is poor lesson design that resulted in Georgio’s failure to read the spreadsheet. It is (fairly) common knowledge that when introducing new materials, you allow the students time to simply play and interact with them before giving them specific instructions or expectations. I think this would be particularly true in a situation like the one presented- a highly interesting, unusual, and engaging activity that has not previously been utilized in school, but is a preferred activity outside of school for many school age students. I think the beauty of that particular decision by Georgio is that it truly only affects his progress within the game, likely creating a bit more struggle for him than for students who read as instructed. I do not believe that it would make a significant difference in the application or understanding of the desired content (financial transactions), primarily because one can still be successful in a game without ever reading any of the prompts if given the right conditions.
Please don’t get me wrong… I think this is a fantastic idea. I absolutely see the value in it and would be very interested in incorporating it into my own classroom. I do not believe that (as presented in this article) it can be used as a stand-alone lesson or unit to teach and assess the targeted skills, which is how some may perceive it based on the way that it is presented in the article.
Ok, I’m done now… Sorry!
Hi Mackiley, first of all, you don't need to be sorry. :) Actually, I keep nodding my head while reading your comment. Yes, that is what often happens in reality. Particularly, I really like your phrase, "I do not believe that (as presented in this article) it can be used as a stand-alone lesson or unit to teach and assess the targeted skills..." I do agree with you that the finance game lesson may not meet its objectives effectively. And, if that happens, the teacher can incorporate other "texts" multi-modally or paper-basedly to fill the gap later.
DeleteAs for Georgio's example, I also totally understand your stance, because I also have one or two Georgios in my class interestingly always, who often bother other students by doing so. (Maybe, this is our destiny as a teacher, lol). However, one interesting thing based on my experience, Goergios have their reasons to do that. The reasons could be that (1) they already know what that is, (e.g., I know how to use Google hangout before taking our second in-class meeting, but I did behave well...didn't I? :) ), (2) they read the instructions very quickly, or (3) they want to read the instructions from time to time while playing with the game. What I want to add on here is that we may want to consider the students' mind carefully. What if Georgio knows what the objectives are more clearly than others although he acted in that way? My Goergios, were...hmm...mostly likely smart students; about 70% of them are very intelligent, and 30% seemed to just ill-behaviored, based on their test results. However, still I'm not sure about their real mind moving by doing so. What I do know is that the students were engaged, at least, and the fact that he/she was making meaning in his/her way. As a teacher, we may be able to check whether the objectives are met with them by asking them to write an reflection paper, or making a presentation slide with peers to demonstrate their comprehension of the contents. (yes, more activities might be needed to check it as you mentioned).
My comment may sound too ideal, but basically I believe that students, while they are in a classroom, want to learn, make meanings, and enjoy learning, even though they sometimes act unexpectedly. So, in my opinion, I would withhold my decision about whether the lesson was successful or not until I get the follow-up performances of the students with the multimodal lenses. But, still I really appreciated that you share your story and thoughts on this topic. (I did teach 8th graders the other day. You know, they rock.) What do you think about my comment? Thanks. :)
Totally agree with you. I do think that effective teachers identify the propensity of those kiddos to do that sort of thing (like Georgio) and take specific steps to ensure they get what they need, and to give them space to learn in their own way. I guess when I read your post I misinterpreted it that you felt like he should have been stopped, made to go back and read, and then move on. I think we're on the same page though! Like usual! :)
DeleteGreat, I'm really glad to hear that. :) Sorry about my a bit confusing posting though. Way to go Georgios! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the very interesting discussion people! I really appreciate it when you all get theoretical and think about the why of an idea.
ReplyDelete