Quote: "But what he has learned most of all is how to learn from others" (pg. 23).
Explanation: I chose this quote because I feel like it almost completely summed up the chapter. We need to realize that learning from each other is one of the best ways to learn. But it doesn't have to be just from a teacher. it can be from each other. Everyone has their own ideas and opinions and we need to make sure that we get our information from every possible view point so that we have a collective understanding of different topics.
Question: Why hasn't there been a bigger movement to bring technology and newer ideas into the classroom?
Connection: I definitely connected with Allen. I have learned a lot of information from going onto Google and asking questions and finding sites and people that can help me. Even with lesson planning! If I am going to be teaching a certain topic, I go online and look up what other teachers have done with the topic and start looking into what I can create from the plethora of information I find.
Epiphany: My moment of clarity was when the professor had felt like he had lost control of his classroom, but he realized the students had been working together because they were so interested in the information! I want to be able to deliver content in a way that is interesting to my students and gets them wanting to go out and explore the information on their own.
Ch. 2
Quote: "Encountering boundaries spurs the imagination to become more active in figuring out novel solutions within the constraints of the situation or context" (pg. 35).
Explanation: Making students wonder and become curious is one of the best ways to get them interested in learning. Leaving some mystery and intrigue in the topic might get students to go home and try to figure out the answers for themselves.
Question: Should the new culture of learning really take out the element of a teacher in the learning process?
Connection: I connected with this chapter because my education was very mechanistic. I was fed information that I needed to be able to spit back out onto a scan tron. i want my students to get more from me and I want to make sure that they are learning more than basic facts and that I am teaching them to really think outside the box.
Epiphany: More like a "duh" moment was just them talking about how students need to be able to figure some thing out for themselves. Of course they do! In this new world, information is so easily accessible. We need to give our students tools to decipher it and come up with their own interpretations of it.
Ch. 3
Quote: "As information is constantly produced, consumed, updated, and altered, new practices of reading, writing, thinking, and learning have evolved with it" (pg. 42).
Explanation: Our students have access to an infinite amount of information. And their avenues of communicating are always changing. We as teachers need to make sure that we are staying up with the times and making sure that we are helping our students become citizens and not just how to write a five paragraph essay
Question: When will someone finally give schools the budget in order to allow for the use of technology in every school?
Connection: The use of technology has been huge in my development of my teaching practice. I know that most of my students know how to use the technology better then myself! But I want to be able to incorporate new and improved tech into my students education to keep them engaged and stimulated throughout their learning.
Epiphany: The "give a man a fish" part made me really think. Because we really do need to rethink it. Not every one of our students need the same tools in order to be successful. Some need to be shown how to use a fishing rod, some maybe a spear. That is our job to assess our students and provide them with the right tools to help them learn and grow.