my story -
growing up i always thought i'd be in ithe peace corps. peace...keeping it, sharing it, having soul peace...huge to me.
my life goal - has been to help others. i remember feeling embarrassed more times than not that my goal was so simplistic.
i did really well in "school math" - i did really well in "school" - but only because i played the game well. it wasn't until i started teaching math that i started getting it.
despite my enthusiasm/love for math - kids weren't getting it. in fact - when i walked into other classrooms, incredible teaching was going on - but a lot of kids were not at all engaged.
so began my journey - to address the meaning of the 7 hrs a day kids spend in school. i asked kids constantly, what would help? what would engage you?
as you can imagine - the answers varied. ---- i can't listen to lectures, i need more lectures. i don't like homework, i need more homework. i have test anxiety, i want to just take the tests. i need hands on, i don't like group work.
so ...dilemma.
just about then i joined an online community. and my world grew and shrank all at once.
IT GREW in that my vision expanded. i was now able to work overseas, help people in africa, find out what it's like to live in the uk, in belgium. i was able to interact with people i had no right interacting with. social class disappeared, economic status meant nothing, ed prowess didn't even interfere. relationship and conversation allowed my world to become wide.
IT SHRUNK in that i hooked up instantly with like minds. traveling to the same destination (mentally/emotionally) was a breeze. no more time wasted on triteness and trivialities. we fed off each other like clockwork. some became much needed individual expert tutors. relationship and conversation allowed my learning and my life to become rich.
and then i realized - this was the way to cater to 100+ students' needs.
the coolest thing - i was learning how to become a part of a network that sharpened each other, challenged each other, was transparent with each other, loved each other - all for the sake of learning - for the sake of helping others.
what i've learned from all these interactions - a new take on education - and on my simplistic life goal. education is learning to learn. you learn by helping others. you can reflect to tweak yourself - by paying attention to those around you. how those around you are doing - says how you are doing.
we all have value. we all want to do good. but we are better together.
well - this bit of info is unleashing drive in me - drive i didn't realize i had.
i've gone from a high school math teacher who felt uncomfortable with a graphing calculator, to a math/life coach who's students are creating their own curriculum/hw/tests, mentoring through skype/blogs with middle schools/colleges/businesses and africa (for starters), creating tailored modules/ebooks/projects/videos in order to help others learn math/life, working with wolfram alpha/google squared and graphing calculators....michael wesch has inspired in us a platform on netvibes. i'm listening to my wise peers, like dan meyer, who suggests we - be less helpful, alan november, who asks - who owns the learner, bill strickland, who says we should - look like the solution not the problem, and will richardson, who says personal learning networks are the way to go in ed, we just need to model how to do them 1) safely 2) ethically and 3) efficiently.
my pln model is triiibes.
thank you triiibesters. i can't even start listing names...if you want to hear your name you'll have to listen to my heart.
thank you seth godin.
my model is in what you created. for us.
i'm indebted to you for focus. and exhilaration.
oh - happy day.
despite my enthusiasm/love for math - kids weren't getting it. in fact - when i walked into other classrooms, incredible teaching was going on - but a lot of kids were not at all engaged.
so began my journey - to address the meaning of the 7 hrs a day kids spend in school. i asked kids constantly, what would help? what would engage you?
as you can imagine - the answers varied. ---- i can't listen to lectures, i need more lectures. i don't like homework, i need more homework. i have test anxiety, i want to just take the tests. i need hands on, i don't like group work.
so ...dilemma.
just about then i joined an online community. and my world grew and shrank all at once.
IT GREW in that my vision expanded. i was now able to work overseas, help people in africa, find out what it's like to live in the uk, in belgium. i was able to interact with people i had no right interacting with. social class disappeared, economic status meant nothing, ed prowess didn't even interfere. relationship and conversation allowed my world to become wide.
IT SHRUNK in that i hooked up instantly with like minds. traveling to the same destination (mentally/emotionally) was a breeze. no more time wasted on triteness and trivialities. we fed off each other like clockwork. some became much needed individual expert tutors. relationship and conversation allowed my learning and my life to become rich.
and then i realized - this was the way to cater to 100+ students' needs.
the coolest thing - i was learning how to become a part of a network that sharpened each other, challenged each other, was transparent with each other, loved each other - all for the sake of learning - for the sake of helping others.
what i've learned from all these interactions - a new take on education - and on my simplistic life goal. education is learning to learn. you learn by helping others. you can reflect to tweak yourself - by paying attention to those around you. how those around you are doing - says how you are doing.
we all have value. we all want to do good. but we are better together.
well - this bit of info is unleashing drive in me - drive i didn't realize i had.
i've gone from a high school math teacher who felt uncomfortable with a graphing calculator, to a math/life coach who's students are creating their own curriculum/hw/tests, mentoring through skype/blogs with middle schools/colleges/businesses and africa (for starters), creating tailored modules/ebooks/projects/videos in order to help others learn math/life, working with wolfram alpha/google squared and graphing calculators....michael wesch has inspired in us a platform on netvibes. i'm listening to my wise peers, like dan meyer, who suggests we - be less helpful, alan november, who asks - who owns the learner, bill strickland, who says we should - look like the solution not the problem, and will richardson, who says personal learning networks are the way to go in ed, we just need to model how to do them 1) safely 2) ethically and 3) efficiently.
my pln model is triiibes.
thank you triiibesters. i can't even start listing names...if you want to hear your name you'll have to listen to my heart.
thank you seth godin.
my model is in what you created. for us.
i'm indebted to you for focus. and exhilaration.
oh - happy day.
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