"Duh" moments

The third design principle (the knowledge principal) talks about using tools not just how the manual says we should, but experiencing them first-hand in the context they are meant for. I particularly like the last chunk of the quote – “analyze content for generalizable knowledge.” This is what we did when we created our Kahoots and what we should be doing as we do all of our readings. I am still working through Mind in Society and I have no idea who the researchers are or who came up with which conclusion. But do I really need to? I hope not or else I’m in trouble.

I keep trying to force myself to think of things in terms of my classrooms. Personally, I don’t really care if my students can sight-read the music I give them. I don’t care if they write the note names in, or label the notes with which fingers should be pressed down. I want them to play the right stuff at the right time so that we create music. VA says I have to care if they can read their clef, so of course I make sure that’s a part of what we learn.

When I took out my articles to think about what I wanted to write for this blog, I came across the Discriminatory Design article we received on our way out of class. I read this and again compared it to my classroom, and had a massive duh moment. I put students in chairs in rows, and then get upset when they drop all seven parts of their clarinet on the floor. Just sit on the damn floor in a circle! It’s such a simple concept – make things easy for students (and for me). Maybe I should consider a career in woolly-horse-clubbing.

Unrelated, I had been struggling to grasp the concept of the open-ended lesson designs. Some of our readings say “make the final outcome anything the students want!” and then the next paragraph say “make a clear product.” The AeCTS design article described it in a very helpful way. Make clear requirements that need to be included, but don’t specifically tell students exactly what to create. Another duh moment; I’m just getting too focused on individual sentences when reading these articles.  

Topic 2!

The first bit of Saber-Tooth Curriculum slightly annoyed me. I was expecting a textbook lesson on curriculum and couldn’t decide if I liked what the book actually was or not. Once I hit the part where the gentleman points out that it really doesn’t matter if it’s the longest bar or not (that’s not what’s important), then I thought “okay, this is going to keep me engaged and thinking!”

The rest of the book frustrated me – I wanted to yell at the cavemen how obviously stupid they are, and how they’re wasting their time and going to fail. When they finally did, I was satisfied and had a bit of “told you so!” attitude going on. Yet the education system he was talking about is our own. We waste so much time and energy on wanting the most credit, or putting up the front that one discipline is harder than another. Who cares?

I teach band. I am very much aware that not all 150 students I teach will go on to become professional musicians, or even continue on in middle school. That’s not the point of my job, just like the point of the bar is if it’s really the longest or not. The world doesn’t need that many professional musicians. The students just need somewhere where they can take a break from their homeroom (a place lots of them struggle to do well) and their home (an overwhelming majority of my kiddos do not have supportive homes to return to).

They get to pick an instrument – to choose what they WANT to learn. They start something brand new and totally foreign to their bodies, and week by week can see and hear the progress they make. They have the opportunity to show off how awesome they are with concerts, hallway performances, and even just coming to class.

Ideally this drive to achieve something will transfer to other areas, and it's my job to help that happen. Once students realize they can do something that not everyone else in their class can do, they get this air of “well of course I am a superior student”. Not quite arrogance, but the “hey everyone, look what I can do that you can’t!” attitude.

What I Learned: Day 1

I learned that while “digital learning” is a fairly straightforward concept, the “design” part has many definitions and interpretations. Designing is different than planning, arranging, building, or reconstructing. I just assumed in this class “technology” meant computers and such, but technology can be a wide range of things and focuses on communication.

I learned that I already know a ton of things and how to use them, which is heartening. I will learn to embrace new possibilities while accepting restraints.

I learned about the four Ps: Principles, Processes, Patterns, and Paraphernalia. If you have an L-shaped kitchen, you need a scalene triangle arrangement for your fridge, sink, and stove. Granite countertops are a lifelong investment, unless you want to tear out your cabinets to replace your counter.

This means that I will need to keep an open mind and give things a try – I like lists and rules and schedules, but I can’t reject any new ideas just because I like how things are. Designing is a lengthy process that needs to be done BEFORE the teaching, not as I’m going along.

In order to execute whatever new design I end up having, I need to plan ahead. My subject area is very lax when it comes to lesson planning, because I have 18 classes that I see once a week each. They are different sizes and have different instrumentations, so they will progress and recall things at very different rates. Wherever we left off last week is where we start again, so it makes planning ahead multiple weeks tough. On the bright side, this gives me 18 groups to try out new ideas on to see what works and what doesn't!