Journal Reflection: Chapters 7 & 8
It never fails. Sooner or later whenever something in education is being discussed or debated, it rears its ugly head. What am I talking about? The dreaded “teaching to the test” debate of course. Moursund talks about this at the start of chapter 7. Here’s my problem with “teaching to the test” … I don’t really have a test. Oh I have a final exam for my Introduction to TV classes, but it’s certainly not any type of standardized test. The majority, and I’m talking like close to one-hundred percent worth, of my assessment is based on projects and performance in the classroom. And it like it like this. I know I’ve mentioned before that probably the worst part of my job is handing out grades. I just don’t enjoy it.
I always say (and this is something I tell my students on the first day of school) that my class is the fun class. At least it should be. Whenever I introduce a new project, I go over all that is expected of the students to include in that project. This may include things like project length, music graphics, etc. That is pretty much the extent of my lecture time. After that, the students need to be up and moving around, working with their group, and basically trying to be as creative as they can be. What am I doing while this is going on? Well, as Moursund puts it, I would be “guide on the side.” Moursund first mentioned this term back in chapter 2, and brings it back in chapter 8. I always referred to myself as something of a “sounding board” where students would ask questions if they got stuck or talk about possible ideas if they needed a creative push and I would assist them. I think my “sounding board” philosophy is the same as Moursund’s “guide on the side.” I move around the room, teaching, helping, interacting, and essentially making a connection with my students. Sure I give them a lot of freedom, and I expect them to accomplish a lot on their own, but ultimately I think this is one of the best parts of my class. It resembles real life situations. You have to work with others to get something done by a certain time. Welcome to the real world folks!
Now I don’t want to make it sound as if I am an absentee teacher in my class. I’m there and ready to help whenever I’m needed and the students know this. I believe (and maybe I’m wrong on this…but I don’t think I am) that most of the students who take TV Production like it this way. I think they like the freedom and the change from other classes where the teacher is always right on top of them, and the responsibility that I give them. One last point on this “sounding board” or “guide on the side” topic…I think it also helps foster a sense of respect between myself and my students. I think they respect me more for treating them like adults, and I think because I they respect me they work harder. Again, I may be wrong on this, but I don’t think I am.
I think the one other point that Moursund made in these two chapters was in chapter 8 when he talked about how some schools are now requiring its students to carry portable microcomputers. This is something that the head of my district’s IT department talked to me about back at the beginning of the school year. He said he envisioned every student having their own laptop, or even their own iPad that had digital copies of all their textbooks loaded on them. Sounds like a great idea to me. Will it happen? Maybe someday, but I don’t think anytime soon. I think there are still too many “old school” teachers who are reluctant to use technology in any form in their classroom, and this would prevent it from happening. I think that’s certainly the case at my high school. I also don’t think my district is ready to entrust all its students with a laptop or an iPad. I’m not in the middle schools or the elementary schools, so I really can’t speak for them, but I am in the high school and all its students ARE NOT ready to be entrusted with this technology. Just today, during our Black History Month assembly, I witnessed a student tell one of the vice principals that he didn’t give a ____ about getting an education or this ___ing school, and that he was ___ing leaving. Then he walked out the front door. You think he would be responsible enough to keep and use a district issued laptop or iPad all school year long? I don’t think so, but that’s for another journal reflection.
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