When I first opened Tony's blog from the link Ms. Lees posted, his blog design and atmosphere struck me as a simple, even playful blog. His title "allthingslearning" does not follow any normal "Titles Spaced and Capitalized Evenly" rule, and is just splat onto the top in a large font that makes his blog seem different. I feel it is a bit messy actually, with the huge list of links and sites right under the title, but I think it works. His blog is just simplistic and kid friendly so there doesn't need to be sub folders and dividers to sort everything. I am not saying it looks unprofessional, but it is just unique.
His blog posts, particularly the post on 'Motivation', is also very fun to read. He incorporated many graphics into his post (more than half was graphically illustrated, which he created himself- wow) to make it more interesting and exciting. It is really cool how he illustrated quotes, such as this one:
This way of incorporating visuals actually reminds me of the recent "Poetry in Motion" project we had to do. Any examples of Poetry in Motion you can find is pretty amazing itself; how people find ways to illustrate words. I actually made one too based off a song lyric. It is just on the post underneath this one, but here's the link.
I found the content of his blog post a bit confusing at first though. There are definitely a lot of references in his post (at least I think they are referring to something I don't know?), and only a few of them I understood. I found many things just random as well. Maybe I just do not get his point and relation he is trying to make. For example:
Anyways, I do agree that if you want to motivate students, teachers must provide them with choices, not just restrict them to certain limitation. Teachers must let student have a say in learning, and listen to their voices (unless they are
Remember the GOLDEN RULE:
LUKE 6:31
I believe Ms. Lees tried to have a more interactive and motivational learning experience with us, the students, by doing the "Genius Hour" projects. She let us choose our own topics on anything. I found this project really fun to work on, and it really showed my motivation in the end. At first both Stella and I were planning to make only 1 or 2 stop motion videos, but in the end we came out with 4! Ms. Lees would ask us for our opinion of how the projects were, and even what we should do for other projects (eg. the Chrysalids novel small assignment). This was truly a class I was motivated in (funny because English may as well be my least favourite subject).
Really? English is your least favourite subject :( I'm glad then that the genius Hour Passion Projects helped to inspire and make it more lively for you Alison. Question for you-do you think a course can have too much choice? Students last semester En 10 said they were getting overwhelmed with too much choice and decisions to be made. What do you think of this?
ReplyDeleteYes unfortunately I will admit that English has been my least favourite subject... maybe it is because it kind of scares me actually. Not only do I not like writing large essays right on the spot while being timed, but I feel English is basically the only class with no specific, er, goal? purpose? Compared to other classes like math, socials, science, etc. where there are specified outlines of what students must know by what grade. English has some of that (poetry terms/definitions, reading famous stuff like William Shakespeare?,...), but it mostly has more "your-own-perspective" kinds of work. You have to write essays, stories, poems, and interpret poems, which are all more like YOUR OWN personal feelings and choices. This also makes teacher marking us different too, where you can't really know your current mark by looking at numbers. English is just so UNspecific, open-minded, with no numbers to tell you what's what.... VAGUE (was the word I was looking for XD). Many people probably like this more than math, science, etc., but I personally do not. I'm one of those (asian) people who always checks their mark and strives to get 100% (or close to) on every test and course. It IS possible to get 100% in math and science (I've seen it happen!), but English works differently. I like to see the numbers, not just vague ideas. I know numbers is not how real knowledge and learning is gauge by, but that's my preference. It's how school works, and what universities look at; your final mark#.
DeleteBUT, I really did have fun this year!!! I came into your class Ms. Lees, expecting to be overloaded with writing assignments, and failing the class (not proud of my Hum 8 year...), but it was completely different (in a good way ^^). Do you remember in Hum 8 I always wrote that the biggest way for me to improve in class was to make new friends and be more comfortable in class? Well I still do, and I feel it is true, I'm more confident in myself today. Also, I love technology, and the way you incorporated it into our learning was very interesting and fun to me :). I maybe even had too much fun with the blog posts (essays), and wrote them too informally... but that's what I like to do >_< (even now I am writing like a normal chat)... Thank you Ms. Lees for teaching us this year :D
DeleteOH and the question you asked, "Do you think a course can have too much choice?" (almost forgot).
DeleteWhen I think of it this way, I do agree. I, myself have experienced this a number of times before in different classes. Teachers would assign a project and make it very (too) vague. For example, every year my most dreaded portion of English class would always stump me and keep me up all night thinking- speech topics. I think it is actually just because I am too indecisive that I can't choose the perfect topic. It is good to let students choose their own topic so they can pick their interests and more willingly write and speak about it. Ugh... um... Well I don't think choices would be overwhelming. As long as the teacher gives a direction and purpose of what kind of project/assignment you are doing, giving the choice of topic to the students is fair.
Hi Alison,
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to do this. Actually, I just got a note to İsaac and I think some of the things I shared with him are relevant to your response, too - take a peek at that and let me know...esp. the stuff on the "Secret":
http://independent.academia.edu/TonyGurr/Posts
Take a closer look at the first two posts - I was doing this in a tongue-in-cheek manner. This is because many people ask me to give them the "magic bullet"...the "recipe"...the "secrets" - to good classroom practice.
Nobody can "tell" us how a certain class should be run or how a certain problem can be solved...we all need to learn from the experiences of others...but coming up with a home-grown solution is always the best. Would you agree?
Anyways, I think looking at the earlier posts might make this one look less "random" (I think that is the first time I have ever used that word in print - my daughter uses it all the time...) ;-)
I'm happy that you enjoyed the Genius Hour approach ;-) More schools and TEACHers should do this...the results speak for themselves... - just look at what you said ;-)
Ms Lees tells me you are all getting ready to leave for Summer Break - have a good one...but, if you want to add any more thunks...you know where my blog is ;-)
Take care,
T..
Now that school is over... I have time to reply :3
DeleteOHHH, I get your "secret" now (; It was very cunning to put such a hook to catch unsuspecting visitors!!
I do agree that finding your OWN solutions through your OWN experience would definitely give you the MOST effective results. Everyone school and classroom in the world is not the same. There are different room sizes, school rules, educational supplies, but most importantly... different students!! Teachers need to know their OWN students, and use that knowledge they gain through time to find the best ways to motivate their OWN students.
Thank you Mr. T... for replying back to my response :D I hope you have a great and most enjoyable summer as well!!