Conference With My 10th Grader's Teachers Yesterday

When I graduate from WOU in 2012 my goal is to be a "provider" of education on the secondary level.  Today, as a student at WOU, I am also a parent and a consumer of education with my 10th grader and 8th grader.  My wife and I met with my 10th grade son's social studies & language arts teachers to discuss a group project that my son recently completed with three classmates.  Our concern was that my son and another boy did 95% of the work and document creation, while the remaining two students were rarely available to contribute to the project or practice their presentations.  As a result, the overall presentation suffered and appeared disjointed.  Two of the boys had good, well rehearsed presentations while the others didn't know their material or provide smooth presentations.  All four of them received a poor grade ("C").

We objected to a group grade as it failed to differentiate between the contributions of each student.  The teachers told us that such group projects are common in high schools today, prepare kids for the real world in which they will be expected to collaborate, and that most of their students like such group projects.  They suggested that if my son experiences similar issues in future group projects, it would be helpful to enlist the teachers's help earlier on in the process so that they can help encourage the laggard students to pull their weight.

One of the teachers is also the school's basketball coach.  I suggested to him that his players are all part of a team that wins or loses together, but that those kids that get the most baskets during a game are also credited with the most points.  I further opined that it is not always easy for an experienced teacher to motivate recalcitrant students so that they participate more.  Isn't it unfair to expect a 10th grader to be responsible for the performances of the other classmates on his project team?  Mastery of the cirriculum material should be the goal for such a student.

This case example provided me with a lot to think about as I continue my preparation to someday be a high school social studies teacher just like the fellow I met with yesterday.

Summary of What I've Learned Abouth The Benefits of Blogging In Education

As others in this class have commented, I had no idea that beginning a blog was so easy.  Before I started my MAT classes at WOU, I have previously shared written information, Word documents, videos, mp.3 files and urls via email while in the private sector.  When I thought about blogs and websites, I did so as a visitor who might post a comment or a reply in someone else's blog.

My blog could list class assignments accompanied by their due dates.  Students could post by assignment to ask questions about the assignment.  My blog would list key dates in the semester: quizzes, mid-terms, finals, field trips, etc.  These assignments and key dates can help parents to keep their children on track.  A teacher's blog can be a place for students to post work for me that can include videos and urls to other sites that are immediately accessible via a click.  This reminds me of some of the capabilities of Moodle.  Hardcopy assignments don't have the same immediacy.  Students can complete assignments this way, but can also post their opinions about the value of particular assignments.  Sort of a "suggestions box."

Students can see what websites and blogs that I follow that may be helpful to them in the study of social studies or language arts.  Lastly, a successful blog in a school or school district can be a good example to other teachers about the benefits of communicating with students, parents and other teachers in this manner.  Blogs are a tool that enable more effective teaching & learning.

Extrinsic Motivation In Teaching

In my educational psychology class, one of the assignments was to watch this video about operant conditioning using rewards & punishments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G59KY7ek8Rk  One could not say that this video reflects an empirical study, but the humor from this sitcom does have the ring of truth to it.  For those of you that read my Jan 19 post about the documentary "Freakonomics" and their study of paying students for good grades, the above video has a contrasting message.  Some of you who replied to my "Freakonomics" post expressed doubt that extrinsic rewards (like cash or "teacher-dollars") are as effective in teaching as instilling intrinsic motivation in one's students.  In fact, paying for grades can even be counter-productive.

As a person who has spent many years in marketing and sales roles with corporations, I know that the key tools of motivation there are dollars in the forms of comissions, bonuses, raises and other monetary rewards.  And they do work to drive the desired performance.  Yet I'm beginning to understand that what works for employed adults doesn't necessarily translate to the classroom setting to support a learning environment for students.

Marketing/Publicizing One's Blog

My searches for websites and videos regarding this subject have mostly been referenced on other blogs from this class.  Something Tori wrote aligned with my thinking: "Since I plan on focusing my blog closely on my classroom and meeting the needs of my students, I do not think it is necessary that I deal with advertising and all that. I am not trying to go global or become famous because of my blog therefore, I am not going to go to extreme measures to promote it."

A key exception to the student/parent-only informational model would be for one's blog to connect to other teachers around the country so as to share best practices & ideas.  As I look for such teacher blogs they aren't difficult to find using Google (http://multimedialearningllc.wordpress.com/ is a history & social studies best practices example).  It would appear that using a facility like Digg is a way to publisize one's own blog to make it easier to find by other teachers.  Naming one's own blog can make it easier or more difficult for others to find.  I originally named my blog "Mr. Wellen's Warehouse" trying to be creative using a "catchy" name.  That is fine when one's only audience is one's students and their parents.  However, in order to reach teh wider teacher community, a title like "Social Studies and History Teacher's Blog - Finding resources for teaching social studies" (from the above url) brings it to the top of the list from a Google search.

Freakonomics & Incenting Students To Achieve Better Grades

My family and I enjoyed a Netflix movies yesterday, "Freakonomics."  I assume many of you may have read the book,  or at least heard about it.  The film closely follows the book, but actually shows the authors describing and showing the experiments they conducted related to statistics and incentives that drive behavior.  In one segment, they work with a school in Chicago to determine if you can turn children into better students with better grades by paying them to do that and providing them with recognition in front of their peers.  The short answer is "it works with some of them and not with others."  Here is a short YouTube clip related to this segment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s4qTifYWe4

I encourge you to read the book, see the documentary film, or at least check out some of the YouTube videos about Freakonomics.

Managing Education Blogs

Denvy asked us to take a closer look at this subject.  On the web, I've discovered "Edublog."  They offer services to help one "manage" their blog and their focus is on the education community.  Here is their video about the top 10 was to use edublog:  http://edublogs.org/10-ways-to-use-your-edublog-to-teach/  Many of these benefits are ones we can obtain now, without edublog.  However part of their value proposition appears to be the "Featured Blogs" from their hompage that links users of their service in too the larger teacher community (683,000) that also use these services.

I think I'll have to try their free edublog to get a better idea of how they can help teachers to "manage" their own websites.

Students Learn From Each Other

Here is a story from today's Corvallis Gazette-Times about the efficacy of "peer-tutoring" being tried at Corvallis High School.  The tutoring center is open to all students and offers tutors for all subjects including math, science, reading, writing and foreign languages. Students who take part can be eligible for credit, fulfill community service requirements for National Honor Society and make new friends.  A freshman receipient of the tutoring said “it’s easier to learn from other students sometimes,” they are able to teach you in different ways. Oftentimes, teachers have to go by the rules.”

http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_3c2076c8-1ee6-11e0-8ddc-001cc4c03286.html