Curation Tools

Out of all the curation tools we've learned about this week, I see myself using Diigo and Pinterest (which I already use) the most.  I have been using Pinterest for about a year now, but until today I pinned all school stuff on the same board, labeled "school stuff."  Today I took the time to create more specific boards, such as "number identification" and "geometry."  I believe I will access what I pin more often now that I have organized my school pins.

I can also see Diigo being a very beneficial curation tool for me.  In the past when I found resources I would print them, add them to my bookmarks toolbar, or just hope I would remember where I found the information.  Now, I can bookmark the resources I find and organize them in a way that meets my needs.  I am excited about the opportunity to highlight and add sticky notes to the resources.  Diigo will also be useful for collaboration.  Two other kindergarten teachers and I already have a group page on which we are all bookmarking pertinent information. 

I have not yet found Twitter to be a useful curating tool for me, however I look forward to using it to create class Tweets about our day.  I believe this will be a beneficial, efficient home-school communication tool.  I will continue to post on my blog weekly, but the tweets will give parents a quick update about our day.

Project Idea

I will be working with two other kindergarten teachers, Amy Finnen and Karen Bradford, to create differentiated math centers for our math instruction.  Our specific focus for this course will be to curate math resources and share/organize these resources through a group page on Diigo.  We plan to create a collection of online math games that students can play with a partner at a math laptop station. Twitter, Feedly, and Pinterest are a few sites we plan to use.

As of right now, we are thinking of using our class blogs to document use of these differentiated math centers.

EdCafe Takeaway

Sir Ken Robinson described humans as being inherently diverse, curious, and creative, but our current educational system in the United States is one based on standardized testing and conformity.  In order for people to thrive as learners, we need to personalize learning and create a culture that is conducive to diversity, curiosity, and creativity.  As an educator, I struggle with finding the right balance between encouraging curiosity and creativity and teaching children school/classroom expectations in order to manage a classroom. 

Response to TED videos

Rita Pierson's message validated many of my teaching beliefs.  I believe her discussion about the value and importance of human connection supports the Responsive Classroom model that we implement at Rowe School.  Rita stated that "all learning is understanding relationships," and the social curriculum taught through a Responsive Classroom model builds human connections and teaches children about relationships.  One of the guiding principles of Responsive Classroom is that knowing the children and families we teach is as important as the content we teach.  This aligns with Rita's belief about the value of human connection.

Another important message I took away from Rita's presentation is that teachers may not like every student they ever teach, but you can never let that show.  As Rita said "teachers become great actors and actresses."  You will have tough students, and these are the children who may need your love and human connection the most.  As an educator it is important to believe in these children and tell them what they can do.  A quote I took away from Rita is "if you say something long enough it starts to be a part of you." 

The student in the video "Teens Talk" made many important remarks about public education.  A few key points I took away from her message are:

• "Public schools are killing creativity."
• Does academic choice help solve this problem?  Is it possible to prevent all creativity from being lost?
• "Students are skimming the surface just to pass exams."
• This remark really struck home with me.  I feel as though that is what I used to do in high school.  I would learn the content for an exam, pass it with flying colors, and then move on, often quickly forgetting the material I had "learned."  As educators, how can we teach what we are required to teach in a meaningful, engaging way for students?
• "The best education is one that teaches you to speak and think for yourself.  That is much more valuable than just passing an exam."
• I can remember having a lot of anxiety about speaking during class discussions throughout high school.  I didn't begin to feel comfortable contributing to class discussions until college, when it became a regular part of my classes.  In my own kindergarten classroom, I encourage risk-taking, and all of my students appear comfortable engaging in discussions.  I wonder if this is a result of their age or has responsive classroom contributed to this?