What do you think the value of collaboration with the community outside your classroom would be? (feel free to scholar google it and refer to any research too....) Are there any draw backs? What considerations and concerns do you need to address when collaborating with the community?
I think that collaboration with the community enhances the students knowledge about what the learn in the classroom. It's always great to make connections with the outside world when we are teaching in a classroom. This strategy proves to the students that what we are teaching them can actually be applied. I always hated learning things in school that had nothing to do with my aspirations and dreams. Of course it's important to learn, just to be more knowledgeable, but I believe that students will learn better when connections are made to the real world.
It's not just students getting something out of collaboration with the community, though. I think that when professionals and people in the community connect with the students in a school, it's a chance for them to give back. These connections made within the community help relationships build, and create a network for job searches and internships. Everyone wins!
I would say that the drawback is time. It's obvious that collaboration with the community is a great thing! But people don't really do this, esp teachers, because it takes a great deal of time and effort. Everyone's busy with their own work and lives, so to have to make another commitment is tough. It's hard to match ups schedules, especially for classrooms as big as they are.
Everyone's had experiences with trying to get group members to meet up at the same time. It's extremely difficult!
But then again, the reward is greater...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Collaboration
Yahoo, I am the first to answer. :-)
I believe in collaboration of the community. I am a firm believer we learn from others, not always the text book or even our instructor. I can't tell you the number of times where I finally understood a process and the explanation came from a study buddy, not the instructor. I feel by collaborating you can help students see the real world application of a process they are learning about in class. In addition, maybe by collaborating the outside person can explain to the student how to understand the process better. I can still remember a local physician coming in and speaking to my second grade class. He brought a handmade doll. The dolls chest opened up and there inside was the major organs including the heart. Up to that point I had not comprehended the human heart was not a heart shape. But I distinctly remember him showing a heart shape organ. He went on to explain how it was really a different shape in real life. I had finally made the connection! I know this story is a bit goofy, but it is an example of how collaboration works.
One challenge with collaboration is the guest/outside person might not know how much the students really know. It is annoying at any age to have someone talk "above" and about a process the student is not familiar with.
As with any situation, when bringing the real world in, there are potential risks. The first that comes to my mind is saftey. All students need to be safe and so the outside person must be someone who would keep the students safe. In addition, a person who encourages a student to press forward is also a plus. I had a professor in dance that told a close friend of mine "if you really want to dance professionally, leave school and move to New York." Although the advice is true, I don't want my students dropping out of high school to persue work. Just something to keep in mind.
I believe in collaboration of the community. I am a firm believer we learn from others, not always the text book or even our instructor. I can't tell you the number of times where I finally understood a process and the explanation came from a study buddy, not the instructor. I feel by collaborating you can help students see the real world application of a process they are learning about in class. In addition, maybe by collaborating the outside person can explain to the student how to understand the process better. I can still remember a local physician coming in and speaking to my second grade class. He brought a handmade doll. The dolls chest opened up and there inside was the major organs including the heart. Up to that point I had not comprehended the human heart was not a heart shape. But I distinctly remember him showing a heart shape organ. He went on to explain how it was really a different shape in real life. I had finally made the connection! I know this story is a bit goofy, but it is an example of how collaboration works.
One challenge with collaboration is the guest/outside person might not know how much the students really know. It is annoying at any age to have someone talk "above" and about a process the student is not familiar with.
As with any situation, when bringing the real world in, there are potential risks. The first that comes to my mind is saftey. All students need to be safe and so the outside person must be someone who would keep the students safe. In addition, a person who encourages a student to press forward is also a plus. I had a professor in dance that told a close friend of mine "if you really want to dance professionally, leave school and move to New York." Although the advice is true, I don't want my students dropping out of high school to persue work. Just something to keep in mind.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Community and Collaboration
What do you think the value of collaboration with the community outside your classroom would be? (feel free to scholar google it and refer to any research too....) Are there any draw backs? What considerations and concerns do you need to address when collaborating with the community?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Email Correspondence with students
What type of correspondence is appropriate when dealing with the secondary level students? Would you allow them to IM you? Why or why not? Is it ok if they send you emails that don't really have anything to do with school? Where do you draw the line between being professional and being supportive of their emotional needs?
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
blog
I checked my gmail account today and got all these e-mails saying that there were new posts on blog.
I went in and read but it took me forever to find the blog and write on this page.
I'm a slow learner at computer, but still like to navigate and try new stuff.
So, I'm still experimenting... :)
I went in and read but it took me forever to find the blog and write on this page.
I'm a slow learner at computer, but still like to navigate and try new stuff.
So, I'm still experimenting... :)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
stolen credit card number
This past Halloween my credit card number was stolen. Discover was really good about calling my home phone in NOVA but they wouldn't tell my mom any details because she's not me. Of course she was concerned and tried calling me right away. Earlier in the day I missed a call from my mom and I was away from my phone again when she called about the credit card. Her mind went into Mom-mode and freaked out. She thought I had been kidnapped and someone was forcing me to use my card. I was eventually able to get back to her and calm her nerves.
The guy charged $750 on my card at a Winn Dixie and Office Depot. Funny thing is, I have a pretty low credit limit because I'm a student and it's my first card. Therefore they overdrew my card and got caught right away. It was comforting that Discover jumped right into action but knowing that someone was still able to get my number and use it in person at two different stores is unsettling.
The guy charged $750 on my card at a Winn Dixie and Office Depot. Funny thing is, I have a pretty low credit limit because I'm a student and it's my first card. Therefore they overdrew my card and got caught right away. It was comforting that Discover jumped right into action but knowing that someone was still able to get my number and use it in person at two different stores is unsettling.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Crash...
During my senior year of college, some system files on my computer became corrupted without me knowing. At first my computer would give me errors once in a while when starting up, but eventually, it would not start Windows at all. To make things worse, all of my files and emails for my senior design project and my job were on my hard drive, which I could no longer access. I eventually worked around the problem by using a Linux operating system called Knoppix that boots entirly from a CD to start my computer. I immediately went and bought an external drive and have kept regular backups ever since.
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