Blog Post #5

Krissy Venosdale

Ms. Venosdale, is a Gifted Ed teacher grades 3-6 in Hillsboro, Missouri. In her blog If I Built a School she talks about what the perfect school atmosphere would be like in her opinion. She says that she wants a school that has no curriculum and and that what grade you are in isn't determined by your age but by your ability. I think this is actually a really good idea, I think teachers shouldn't have to use a curriculum rather they should have guidelines not rules. In her school she also wants to focus on creativity. One thing that Ms. Venosdale wants to accomplish is a cool atmosphere for the teachers and the children. She starts off by saying that she wants to have a giant tree house in the library. Which I for one think is an absolutely genius idea. It reminds me of something that the magic school bus would have. She also wants to have an giant fish tanks in the hallways for students to be able to enjoy there studying. The last thing that stood out to me was that she wanted to give every teacher their own parking spots and let kids write positive messages to their teachers, so that is the first and the last thing they see when they leave or come to work. 

If I had to build my own school, I would have to steal a couple of ideas from Ms. Venosdale. I would steal the tree house and fish tank ideas. These two ideas are great because they make the students want to and enjoy being at school which is half the battle. Also if I could build a school I would focus on sports and getting students involved. I would have all the basketball, baseball, volleyball, and soccer games played during school hours. This way all the students could miss class on game day and support their fellow classmates. For the actually school work I would focus on what the students want to learn about. Since I want to teach High School, all of my students will have the basics down so this way we can focus more about what interest them so they can strive and enjoy their time at my school.

Virtual Choir

In Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir- "Lux Aurumque" there are a choir of people who have never met before and get together online and perform. It is absolutely amazing to think that a group of 185 people who have never met can be broad casted together singing a song for 6 minutes and sound really good. This was kind of a shock to realize that something like this can be done on the Internet and turn out amazing. It really makes me strongly believe that technology is definitely the way of the future, and if people can do something like this now imagine what they can do 10 years from now. He goes on NPR and explains how and why he created a virtual choir How to make a virtual choir. In this interview he talks about the "Lux Aurumque" video and he also talks about the reason it is so intriguing is because it consists of hundreds of people who are alone but are somehow alone together.

Teaching in The 21st Century

In Teaching in The 21st Century, created by Kevin Roberts and then edited by John Strange, It asks a lot of questions about old teaching methods and how they are going to teach new generations about new advancements. I think the video brings up some valid points, especially about using technology to not only entertain but to engage. By asking students things that they are interested in, such as vacation spots, and then asking them to use viable resources to explain why other people should be interested as well. I think the main point that the video is trying to get across is that we need to use technological tools as a form to engage students not only to entertain them. 

I think these views will affect my teaching by allowing me to realize the importance that students use this technology to, not only play but learn. The video suggests that you make kids research relative material, such as how to lose weight. Now granite this might not be interesting to every student but it will be to some. Or have kids research the best jobs, and then explain why those are the best. These two examples are perfect because it engages the students to learn, what will be best for them in the future, or even now. So I think the video changed my views by allowing me to recognize that I need to assign tasks that will be useful to my students future, and that they will want to learn about. 

Flipped Classrooms

I think flipping the classroom is a terrific idea. This way the students will learn from their homework instead of just reviewing what they learned earlier. The principle behind flipping allows teachers to teach while the students are at home so that when they meet in the classroom they will be able to talk about strategies to tackle tough problems and any specific questions the students have. Also another perk of flipping a classroom is that every student can learn at their own pace. This way if one student is falling behind in lecture the teacher doesn't have to stop lecturing and catch everyone up to speed. 

When I have my classroom I will definitely push for a flipped classroom approach. This way all of my students will learn how to engage with the material I assign and have questions and comments during the school day. I will also try and flip my classroom because it allows the student's parents to know exactly what I will be teaching in my class. I recommend flipping for everyone, and if anyone wants more information here is Flipping 101 with Fizz.