EduBlogger | Talking about trauma

There have been a lot of "firsts" so far in this EDU 504: Teaching with Technology class. I can now consider myself a blogger, and what's more is that I begun following other bloggers: EduBloggers.

When reading through the endless list of educators who are blogging, I was first struck by the shear number of individuals who are expressing themselves, sharing frustrations, triumphs, and insights via their blogs. The range of topics span from classroom management techniques to amusing vignettes, hilarious situations to tear-inducing tragedies. It is also wonderful to see that these writings are not simply drafted, posted, and lost to the black hole that can be internet, like shouting into darkness. Rather, educators are supporting one another through comments, supportive insights, and the generation of dialogue. When first seeing this, I thought to myself, "Wow. I'm stepping into a pretty great profession." I've thought that countless times before but never in the context of the internet or blogging.

One of the EduBloggers I found has a blog entitle Practical Theory: A View from the Schoolhouse. This title caught my interest as I appreciate greatly the efforts necessary to implement theory into practice, something much easier said than done. Those, like this blogger, who try will certainly have developed some wisdom along the way. I ended up reading one of the blogs within this site entitled "How does your school deal with student trauma?" The title struck me as it immediately resonated with my current student teaching situation. Although I recognize that all schools have students who have gone through some serious trauma, I would argue that where I am placed—an adult alternative educational center—has a uniquely high number of students with trauma. Each day I try to teach students Biology but end up helping students talk through issues they are going through, lending support, showing students that people care for them, or pointing them to resources they desperately need. What I have learned so far in my placement is the importance of building relationships with students as the first step before effective or meaningful learning can take place. 

This EduBlogger simply reflected upon how inhibiting traumatic events can be to learning in the classroom. He encouraged his viewers to reflect upon the way in which they think of their students, communicate with them, and the focus of their teachings. He urged his viewers to remember that we are teaching students / people a subject matter. We are not just math, english, or biology teachers; we are teaching people first. 

It was inspiring to see that conversations are being discussed on this pervasive topic of trauma. I am encouraged by the fact that teachers are taking it seriously, and I look forward to joining in this dialogue. Conversation such as this, as I see it, can only result in positive change in teaching practices, school climates, and in the lives of individual students.

Here is the link to Chris Lehmann's blog Practical Theory: http://practicaltheory.org/blog/

Musings on Prezi | Tech-Tools in Use

Recently, several of my colleagues gave a presentation on the cloud-based, potentially motion-sickness inducing (sorry if that's you), new presentation software that is known simply as Prezi.

Chris Anderson, CEO of TED (not one of my colleagues) stated that Prezi is,"...helping to reinvent the art of presentation." Bold statement. Short sighted, maybe? Regardless, Mr. TED's statement does reflect the apparent reason why Prezi got its start, which, according to my colleagues, was because people thought Prezi's older relative, Power Point, was, well, old and boring.

Prezi was designed to allow individuals to personalize presentations or to collaboratively develop creative ones. Instead of the sequentially predictable functioning of power point slides, Prezi utilizes motion to "captivate" the audience as you zoom through the story. For some viewers, this is a fun plus, but for others, it may send them running back to the steady and stomach-safe transitions of power point. My favorite aspect of Prezi, however, is the multidimensional and meaningful way in which Prezi allows you to visually explain conceptual relationships between topics.

Unlike power point, which simply moves you along from one slide to the next allowing little thought of connectivity between idea, the zooming capacity of Prezi allows its viewers to see concept connections spatially. This feature allows presenters to organize their thoughts in a very different way, and, wonderfully, it allows the viewers to follow along on the potentially crazy ride. Concept comprehension may be supported greatly by this application.

Although I am big supporter of Prezi's capacity to allow spatial organization of concepts, there are a few drawbacks that make me hesitant to encourage my students to utilize it. First, the immense potential for creativity that Prezi supports could also be its Achilles heel, at least in terms of the potential for students to become lost in the distracting world of templates, colors, and formats. If students can efficiently select the myriad options presented to them and actually get to the content, we might be in business. That is, of course, dependent upon the technological resources that are available to students. Where I am currently teaching, the school does not have the technologies necessary to support the demanding Prezi software. This limitation, if present, prevents the Prezi-plane from even getting off the ground.