Tag: classroom
Learning from Knitting
by on Dec.12, 2009, under Uncategorized
If you told me 5 years ago that I would be a knitter, I would have told you that you were crazy! I finally took up knitting about a year ago.
It may look hard but actually may be easier than expected. Many times I look at a pattern and feel overwhelmed, yet I really want to make the item that looks so cool in the picture. I decide to try it because what is the worst thing that can happen? Then I find out it really wasn’t that hard and if I had given up before I started, I would never have found this out. Maybe that is the way my lessons appear to my students. My explanation may sound more difficult than it really is so I have to be careful about overwhelming them. I need to find ways to simplify what I’m teaching and then when they understand the concept, I can go into more detail. This way it won’t scare them.
Sometimes you have to rip out and start all over. When things don’t go right, I sometimes have to rip it out and begin it again. But that is alright. That is how I find out my mistake so I don’t do it again. If I hadn’t found out what I was doing wrong, this might never turn out right. That is why I make my students correct their mistakes early on. So many times they want me to just give them a grade a move on, but they won’t learn that way. They will just keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
It helps to get have a support system. I found a group of people who do well in knitting and are willing to help me. Over time I feel more comfortable sharing my mistakes so that they can show me an easier way to do things. That is one reason I think we need to put students with various strengths together in groups in order for them to learn from one another. Also if students are working on a project if they have the same interests, it is likely they will learn different strategies for learning the material.
Mistakes happen but don’t agonize over them. I made a sweater where the arms were too long but didn’t find out until I tried it on when it was done. I made a pair of socks where the foot was too long and the heels stuck out of my shoes when I put them on. These are things that I can adjust the next time I make a sweater or a pair of socks. From these mistakes, I learned what I need to do differently but I don’t just give up on knitting because of them. I need to encourage my students the same way about their learning. Sure they will make mistakes but those are just building blocks for future successes. I don’t want them to give up on learning because of their mistakes.
Sometimes you just have to believe. Once I really didn’t understand how a pattern would make a sock but it did. I studied and studied the pattern but could not make sense out of all the steps. Somebody just told me to believe it would happen and just start following the steps. Well, I did and was amazed that it really turned into a sock. After I actually made the sock, I was able to understand how the pattern worked and it made sense to me. It would never have made sense if I didn’t try it. Sometimes we need to get our students to do the same things. If they go through the process, they may actually understand it better. That is why I feel that hands on activities are so important to learning abstract ideas. If I can relate the abstract to a real thing, the students seem to grasp the concept so much better.
I think I learn something new every day from my new knitting adventure. If you haven’t ever tried it, I would highly recommend it to all men and women. It is a great stress reliever and research shows that it lowers high blood pressure. If you aren’t into knitting, I suggest finding something new to learn because the lessons you learn will definitely help your classroom lessons be more successful!
Original image: ‘Noro Socks finished (365.2.7)’
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33953253@N00/3131969145 by: caro sheridan
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A Little Push
by on Dec.08, 2009, under Uncategorized
One story in my Lutheran Hour Ministries Daily Devotion was this:
“Yesterday, while standing in line at the bank, I struck up a conversation with a soldier.
During our talk, he told me he was a paratrooper. Impressed because I have a deep respect for heights, I asked him how many times he had jumped.
With a smile, he responded, “Pastor, I’ve never jumped. Not even once. But I can tell you I’ve been pushed more than 40 times.”
It made me think about the times I needed a push in my teaching career. Sometimes I thought it was something awful that happened to me in my career, and later on, looking back, I realized that without that push, what I was experiencing currently would never have happened. When I was dissatisfied with my current school and moved to a different one, I felt refreshed and motivated but if I hadn’t moved, I would have been stagnant and disengaged along with my students.
Sometimes we would have a new program to follow in our school and all of the teachers would grumble and gripe. Yet, after we got used to the program and learned how to best implement it, we would see positive results with our students and realize that it was an effective program. Yet, for weeks and months, people were unhappy about trying something new. It took time and energy and patience. People wanted to do it the same old way. Then the administration had to push us into doing something new.
When new technology was introduced to the school, many teachers were anxious and didn’t want anything to do with it. I remember when the first smart boards came to our school. I think for the first year, they sat in classrooms and no one used it. Then new teachers came to the school and begged for them so they could use them. As the teachers began to use them, others could see how effective they were. The administration began to realize how this could be used in the classroom and wanted all of the teachers to use it but the teachers were not all on board. Then one year, the school district bought promethean boards (like smart boards) and put them in the entire classroom. Now all of the teachers are using them but they had to be pushed to use it. It became part of the teacher evaluations.
Just like those commercials where the siblings didn’t like what they were eating, they would give it to their little brother, saying, “Let Mikey eat it,” that is the way I was treated in my school. I loved to try new things and fiddle with it until I could figure out ways to make it work in my classroom. Where others complained about it sucking up their time, I saw it as a fun challenge. Soon, the administration noticed this, and I was usually the first one to get new technology which suited me fine. Others saw this as an inconvenience but I saw it as a way to get neat new stuff for my classroom. I began to look for new technology that no one else had and found a way for the school to get it for me to try. It might have involved writing grants or doing presentations to show how these things were effective in other schools. I was willing to do what I needed to get it so in a way, I was giving my school the push that they needed.
At times, my students needed that push too. Many of my students were unsuccessful in their school career until they got to my class. Soon they were making good grades and feeling good about themselves. In fact, they felt so good finally that they didn’t want to leave my class. I even had a couple of students start making failing grades near the end of school in hopes that they could stay in my class. I had to push them out of the nest which was as hard for me as it was for them. One year I had an 18 year old girl who had watched her mother get killed and she was so traumatized that she carried a stuffed animal and refused to talk or look at anyone. I got her an internship at the local animal shelter and eventually she started to talk and interact with others. She even gave up her stuffed animal. Then I had to move her to working in a nursing home because I wanted her to try new experiences while she had me as a support system. That was very hard for her but she was successful because of her nurturing spirit. Without my pushing, I think she would have become very isolated and depressed from withdrawing from the world.
Sometimes we all need a little push. Has someone’s push helped you, either personally or professionally? Has your push helped someone else? Please share your stories because I would love to hear them.
Original image: ‘Down you go!’
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96878569@N00/2205802458 by: Maureen K
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Useful Information Desember
by on Dec.04, 2009, under Uncategorized
Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my Personal Learning Network (PLN). As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!
Skeletal System Game – learn the bones
WannaLearn.com – “Over 350 categories of free, first-rate, family-safe online tutorials, guides and instructionally oriented Websites!”
Teaching With Contests – “The purpose of Teaching with Contests is to assist educators in finding contests that can be used in the classroom to motivate students. We are here for the student and the teacher not the promotion of products or company public relations. Our goal is to select contests and programs whose primary goal is education and secondarily business/product promotion.”
Digging Back in Time –“Students will follow other students in the field at a hearth site archaeological dig and complete an activity which will help them learn about the systematic science of archaeology.”
Everyone Has a Story – Students will work cooperatively to decide on a topic and investigate it through oral history interviews. Students will understand that everyone has a story.
