I admit to being skeptical at the beginning. This was the third course I signed up for (the other two having been cancelled for lack of interest). So I wasn’t really keen on the subject matter, which I anticipated being how to use the latest whizmos and hoohas in technology. The first unit was surprisingly meaty, however, and rife with controversial issues that piqued my interest. I enjoyed the reading material, even though I felt the quantity rather copious, and especially enjoyed thinking about the problems in education.
I received my McCain book late and loved it from the first page, and the more we read and learned, the more I sought to apply what I was learning in my classroom. The timing was great – we were beginning a new unit that presented a wonderful opportunity to implement McCain’s strategies, as well as some of the technologies, we were learning about. I had a real-life opportunity to apply my learning, and I must say so far I have been very happy with the results. My students are the real beneficiaries of this course – rather, I hope they are! – and I am excited to see how their projects turn out in two weeks.
Three things that bothered me throughout the process:
1) balanced views of the state of American education are woefully lacking not only in what we read for the class, but in the public arena. Where are the moderate voices? Everyone is bemoaning our pitiful mathematics education, yet our workers rank among the most productive in the world, and we continue to give the world innovative, paradigm-shifting products and technologies like no one else. Having witnessed education in a few other places, I can at least anecdotally testify that our education system, while flawed, is one of the best in the world regardless of standardized tests (which, as we’ve learned, measure a very limited set of skills).
2) I felt disconnected from the other members of the class, at least in comparison to how I felt in my previous 2 online courses (one through UW-Stout, one through UW-River Falls). I felt a much greater sense of community in those courses. Part of my problem was I started this class while finishing up another one, so maybe I never had my initial bonding, and that affected me throughout. I don’t think this was detrimental, just something I wish had been different.
3) The amount of reading. I had serious questions about whether or not I would be able to complete the reading and assignments in the time I had to do it. Not that the deadlines were too close together, just the circumstances of my life not easily allowing time to do the work.
Overall, I felt I gave this course my best effort. I didn’t really use the online library much, except to do what was required, nor did I avail of my colleagues much. I did what I had to do, and that kept me plenty busy! I have come away with a vision for what education should be providing our students, and a desire to affect the changes necessary in my school.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
How I created my apocalyptic Quickquest
This exercise has by far been the most challenging and frustrating thus far in this class. I decided I´d exhausted my Paul´s Letter activities (see previous posts and activities). Since that project is already in motion, anything I created related to that content would be strictly academic. I wanted to create something useful, something related to the next unit of tsudy: namely, apocalyptic literature in Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation. Admittedly, I have not taught (or studied) that subject matter to the extent I have Paul, but why not give it a shot!
After reading through the material for this unit (which I finished Thursday or Friday) I began studying the material for my next teaching unit. Since our current project will not end unti late April, I haven´t really spent a lot of time looking through it. So after several hours of reading through it and getting a grasp on what I will be teaching, I began asking myself, "What do I really want my students to know when they finish this unit?" I wasn´t sure, so I began asking pastors that I work with about apocalyptic literature. However, with Sunday looming large over all of us, there wasn´t much time for these conversations. I decided perhaps I´d let it all simmer awhile (like from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon). Internet was dead on Sunday, so I decided to simmer some more.
Monday morning I went online at the office and read some about apocalyptic literature. I liked the idea of visions, of trying to envision a vision, so I began searching for apocalyptic artwork. Found some OK videos. I thought it might be fun to show the students a piece of art depicting one of the visions, or even an animation or video of one of the visions and then have them interpret it by researching the cultural and historical context in which the prophet receieved it. But I didn´t find a video or piece of art I liked, so I scrapped that idea.
I had lunch on Monday with a friend and conversed extensively about what I could do with the unit, what I wanted my students to learn, and came to some great conclusions. However to turn the ideas into a quickquest would have required much more time and study then I had time to devote. I needed one workable idea. I left lunch feeling like I had a brain full of ideas that weren´t aligning right. I came back to the office, put some things in a word document, but none of it really made sense - there was no unity.
Monday afternoon a crisis erupted in another area of life, so I had to put the Apocalypse on hold. I went to bed frustrated that I hadn´t completed the assignment on time, wondering if I shouldn´t have just done something easy and rehashed than original. Ideas continued bouncing around in my head like Captain Kangaroo´s pingpong balls.
Then today, when I came in and started afresh, it all fell into place. I basically created what I was envisioning the day before, but I found a missing piece that all made it fit together. I felt like I had direction and knew what I wanted to achieve. I finished the assignment today at 2:30, in just a couple of hours.
After reading through the material for this unit (which I finished Thursday or Friday) I began studying the material for my next teaching unit. Since our current project will not end unti late April, I haven´t really spent a lot of time looking through it. So after several hours of reading through it and getting a grasp on what I will be teaching, I began asking myself, "What do I really want my students to know when they finish this unit?" I wasn´t sure, so I began asking pastors that I work with about apocalyptic literature. However, with Sunday looming large over all of us, there wasn´t much time for these conversations. I decided perhaps I´d let it all simmer awhile (like from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon). Internet was dead on Sunday, so I decided to simmer some more.
Monday morning I went online at the office and read some about apocalyptic literature. I liked the idea of visions, of trying to envision a vision, so I began searching for apocalyptic artwork. Found some OK videos. I thought it might be fun to show the students a piece of art depicting one of the visions, or even an animation or video of one of the visions and then have them interpret it by researching the cultural and historical context in which the prophet receieved it. But I didn´t find a video or piece of art I liked, so I scrapped that idea.
I had lunch on Monday with a friend and conversed extensively about what I could do with the unit, what I wanted my students to learn, and came to some great conclusions. However to turn the ideas into a quickquest would have required much more time and study then I had time to devote. I needed one workable idea. I left lunch feeling like I had a brain full of ideas that weren´t aligning right. I came back to the office, put some things in a word document, but none of it really made sense - there was no unity.
Monday afternoon a crisis erupted in another area of life, so I had to put the Apocalypse on hold. I went to bed frustrated that I hadn´t completed the assignment on time, wondering if I shouldn´t have just done something easy and rehashed than original. Ideas continued bouncing around in my head like Captain Kangaroo´s pingpong balls.
Then today, when I came in and started afresh, it all fell into place. I basically created what I was envisioning the day before, but I found a missing piece that all made it fit together. I felt like I had direction and knew what I wanted to achieve. I finished the assignment today at 2:30, in just a couple of hours.
Apocalyptic Literature: an introduction
Scenario
Your friend gives you a call and asks what you have going on today – you tell her nothing, although you really had plans to spend the day reading a book. But you feel a little sorry for your friend – she just had a major eye operation and isn´t seeing yet, and so you ask her what´s up. She tells you there´s an art show in town and she really wants to go to it, explaining that even though she can´t see, she has heard a lot about this artist, has seen some of his stuff online, and can´t miss this opportunity to go to the show and be that close to his stuff. Besides, she says, you can be her eyes. Your friend is not a Christian, and you see this as an opportunity to be Jesus to her, so you decide to go.
The art show features the artist David Miles, a modern, graphic designer. You enter the show and are impressed with his work. “That´s strange,” you say, as you see his piece entitled The Woman Clothed With the Sun.
“What´s it look like?” she asks.
“Weird. Very weird,” you reply.
“I mean describe it to me! Please?”
Task one
Look at the piece The Woman Clothed With the Sun. Open up a Word document, and take five minutes to describe this piece. Remember your friend has never seen it, has never read the Bible, and is not a Christian.
When you have completed the task, read on…
What you have just done is what many of the prophets of God had to do: describe what they´d seen in visions and dreams to people who had absolutely no reference point for what they´d seen. The prophets had to carefully record what they saw without understanding what it meant, sometimes without knowing what they were seeing.
Visions of the future fit into a larger body of work often referred to as Apocalpytic literature. The purpose of this lesson is to introduce you to various devices used in this genre. First, however, let´s define apocalyptic literature. Read the paragraphs related to “What is Apocalyptic Literature” on this page. Now open a word document and write a one sentence definition of apocalyptic literature.
Now let´s revisit your description of David Miles´ artwork. Would this qualify as apocalyptic? Why or why not? Use your definition to explain your answer in your word document.
As stated before, prophets often had to describe what they´d seen in visions and dreams to people who had absolutely no reference point for what they´d seen. The prophets had to carefully record what they saw without understanding what it meant, sometimes without knowing what they were seeing.
This is important to understand when reading apocalyptic literature: men living before or shortly after the time of Christ had to describe things that would take place in the future. God may have explained to the prophet or visionary what the vision meant, just as you may know about the dragon and the woman from Revelation 12. But the people to whom the prophets spoke had no idea what the prophets were speaking of, just as your friend would have no idea what the beast, Revelation, the dragon, etc. are.
Task two
Imagine that one day you´re sitting at your desk in school, when all of a sudden God speaks into your mind, “I have something to show you.” Then, the picture at your left flashes in front of your eyes. For a full minute the image burns into your brain. Then the voice says, “Now go and tell the people what you have seen.” What do you tell them?
In your Word document, take a minute or two to describe the object. Then explain to the people what it is.
Now find out what it really is.
How close were you?
Sometimes the prophets of God were shown things that neither they nor the people they were to tell would understand – all they could do was describe what they saw. Much of apocalyptic literature is written this way, and can only be understood in hindsight. For example, read Revelation chapter 9:1-10. Is the locust plague literal, or is it John (the author of Revelation) describing something futuristic in terms of what makes sense to him? What else could the locusts be? Write your thoughts in the Word document.
Task Three
Sometimes apocalyptic is literal, describing events exactly as they would happen. Check out Ezekiel 9:16. This is something God is literally going to do. Sometimes it´s much more figurative, using metaphor and simile. Brush up on what metaphor and simile are. Then read this example: Ezekiel 9:2-3. Is this a simile or a metaphor? Write your answer in your word document.
Sometimes the vision would involve symbolism, where what God showed the prophet was representative of what he would do. Read this example. Do you think God means this, or this? Or could it mean something else? Write your answer in the word document.
It´s important that we understand whether a passage is using literal or figurative language. Sometimes it´s clear, sometimes not. Sometimes the figures of speech make no sense to us in modern times, but would have made perfect sense in the time for which they was written. For a humorous look at some literal interpretations of figurative language, check out this song, which references portions of this passage of the Bible.
Now copy the references below into your word document. As you read each one, write in your word document whether this is a simile or metaphor. Further note if the passage utilizes any symbolism.
Ezekiel 38:9
Revelation 2:27
Revelation 6:12-14
Revelation 8:6-12
Daniel 7:7-8
Now that you are aware of some of the contexts and literary devices found in apocalyptic literature, you´re ready to practice understanding it! Don´t worry, we´ll save that for next time.
For Fun
This is how one creative person depicted the vision Ezekiel describes in chapter 1 of his book. Cool, huh?
For more images from the apocalyptic literature, you can check out Biblical Art.
Your friend gives you a call and asks what you have going on today – you tell her nothing, although you really had plans to spend the day reading a book. But you feel a little sorry for your friend – she just had a major eye operation and isn´t seeing yet, and so you ask her what´s up. She tells you there´s an art show in town and she really wants to go to it, explaining that even though she can´t see, she has heard a lot about this artist, has seen some of his stuff online, and can´t miss this opportunity to go to the show and be that close to his stuff. Besides, she says, you can be her eyes. Your friend is not a Christian, and you see this as an opportunity to be Jesus to her, so you decide to go.
The art show features the artist David Miles, a modern, graphic designer. You enter the show and are impressed with his work. “That´s strange,” you say, as you see his piece entitled The Woman Clothed With the Sun.
“What´s it look like?” she asks.
“Weird. Very weird,” you reply.
“I mean describe it to me! Please?”
Task one
Look at the piece The Woman Clothed With the Sun. Open up a Word document, and take five minutes to describe this piece. Remember your friend has never seen it, has never read the Bible, and is not a Christian.
When you have completed the task, read on…
What you have just done is what many of the prophets of God had to do: describe what they´d seen in visions and dreams to people who had absolutely no reference point for what they´d seen. The prophets had to carefully record what they saw without understanding what it meant, sometimes without knowing what they were seeing.
Visions of the future fit into a larger body of work often referred to as Apocalpytic literature. The purpose of this lesson is to introduce you to various devices used in this genre. First, however, let´s define apocalyptic literature. Read the paragraphs related to “What is Apocalyptic Literature” on this page. Now open a word document and write a one sentence definition of apocalyptic literature.
Now let´s revisit your description of David Miles´ artwork. Would this qualify as apocalyptic? Why or why not? Use your definition to explain your answer in your word document.
As stated before, prophets often had to describe what they´d seen in visions and dreams to people who had absolutely no reference point for what they´d seen. The prophets had to carefully record what they saw without understanding what it meant, sometimes without knowing what they were seeing.
This is important to understand when reading apocalyptic literature: men living before or shortly after the time of Christ had to describe things that would take place in the future. God may have explained to the prophet or visionary what the vision meant, just as you may know about the dragon and the woman from Revelation 12. But the people to whom the prophets spoke had no idea what the prophets were speaking of, just as your friend would have no idea what the beast, Revelation, the dragon, etc. are.
Task two
Imagine that one day you´re sitting at your desk in school, when all of a sudden God speaks into your mind, “I have something to show you.” Then, the picture at your left flashes in front of your eyes. For a full minute the image burns into your brain. Then the voice says, “Now go and tell the people what you have seen.” What do you tell them?
In your Word document, take a minute or two to describe the object. Then explain to the people what it is.
Now find out what it really is.
How close were you?
Sometimes the prophets of God were shown things that neither they nor the people they were to tell would understand – all they could do was describe what they saw. Much of apocalyptic literature is written this way, and can only be understood in hindsight. For example, read Revelation chapter 9:1-10. Is the locust plague literal, or is it John (the author of Revelation) describing something futuristic in terms of what makes sense to him? What else could the locusts be? Write your thoughts in the Word document.
Task Three
Sometimes apocalyptic is literal, describing events exactly as they would happen. Check out Ezekiel 9:16. This is something God is literally going to do. Sometimes it´s much more figurative, using metaphor and simile. Brush up on what metaphor and simile are. Then read this example: Ezekiel 9:2-3. Is this a simile or a metaphor? Write your answer in your word document.
Sometimes the vision would involve symbolism, where what God showed the prophet was representative of what he would do. Read this example. Do you think God means this, or this? Or could it mean something else? Write your answer in the word document.
It´s important that we understand whether a passage is using literal or figurative language. Sometimes it´s clear, sometimes not. Sometimes the figures of speech make no sense to us in modern times, but would have made perfect sense in the time for which they was written. For a humorous look at some literal interpretations of figurative language, check out this song, which references portions of this passage of the Bible.
Now copy the references below into your word document. As you read each one, write in your word document whether this is a simile or metaphor. Further note if the passage utilizes any symbolism.
Ezekiel 38:9
Revelation 2:27
Revelation 6:12-14
Revelation 8:6-12
Daniel 7:7-8
Now that you are aware of some of the contexts and literary devices found in apocalyptic literature, you´re ready to practice understanding it! Don´t worry, we´ll save that for next time.
For Fun
This is how one creative person depicted the vision Ezekiel describes in chapter 1 of his book. Cool, huh?
For more images from the apocalyptic literature, you can check out Biblical Art.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Learning and Web 2.0
The web opens up so many new avenues to learning - like realtime discussions taking place between people thousands of miles apart. Like being able to communicate with the author of a book about his or her work. Thats a great use of technology.
I really like using google documents or wikis to track research - what an ingenious way to deal with online research.
I must say for most of these ideas presented I just read, look, and say, "Wow, cool, I'll have to try that someday." I feel like the train is passing me by, though, and if I don't put these newly learned techniques to use I will never do it, I will continue to be somewhat apprehensive of new technology. My approach to this tends to be both idealistic and pragmatic - idealistic in that I want to share the ideas with people I think could use them. Pragmatic in that if I can't think of an application for it in my immediate circumstances, I discard the idea.
The question it all raises for me is how much of this is just a new spin on something that's been around for awhile, and how much of this is really innovative learning? Kids writing on blogs instead of paper - well, I'm sure at one point paper was quite novel, and before that, the slate, and before that, the wax tablet. But has what we're writing, or the level at which we're writing, changing? Is it using technology to be cool and 21st century, or is it using technology to help in learning?
I really like using google documents or wikis to track research - what an ingenious way to deal with online research.
I must say for most of these ideas presented I just read, look, and say, "Wow, cool, I'll have to try that someday." I feel like the train is passing me by, though, and if I don't put these newly learned techniques to use I will never do it, I will continue to be somewhat apprehensive of new technology. My approach to this tends to be both idealistic and pragmatic - idealistic in that I want to share the ideas with people I think could use them. Pragmatic in that if I can't think of an application for it in my immediate circumstances, I discard the idea.
The question it all raises for me is how much of this is just a new spin on something that's been around for awhile, and how much of this is really innovative learning? Kids writing on blogs instead of paper - well, I'm sure at one point paper was quite novel, and before that, the slate, and before that, the wax tablet. But has what we're writing, or the level at which we're writing, changing? Is it using technology to be cool and 21st century, or is it using technology to help in learning?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Module 6 Activity One – search engines
The point of this lesson was to teach us to better use search engines, to expose us to the wide variety of search tools available on the web, and ultimately to help us become better users of the web so we can help our students become better web users.
This mod frustrated me greatly. I do not consider myself ignorant or unadept at technology, but I must confess to feeling ignorant at several points during this module – not to mention hesitant to engage in it. What is it that makes us fearful of new technologies? I do not fear technology is going to take over the world, I do not fear buying a new gadget. But I can find them intimidating or overwhelming – and I think that is the case with the internet: its sheer magnitude, complexity, and non-linearness combine to create a labyrinth of information. Like living in a city with no map, you simply learn routes that take you where you need to go and then get you back home with no regard for the rest of the city. Perhaps this is what truly distinguishes the native from the immigrant. The native knows the city, its transportation systems, the shortcuts to take when traffic is bad. The immigrant simply knows how to get from A to B and sometimes C. If that system fails to work, the immigrant is stuck.
I learned from this module. I learned about different types of search engines, I learned that searching online can take more time than searching in a well-stocked library (although you have nowhere near the amount of information at your disposal). Most of the information skills I used today I learned in real libraries, so I learned there is value in going non-digital. I also learned about my own fears, apprehension of never “getting it all,” never developing a comprehensive grasp of the internet and its potential, what’s out there, my unending desire to find my own “God theory,” to borrow Einstein’s title for that which will make sense of everything in existence. Perhaps, to continue the city metaphor from the previous paragraph, the difference between cities and the internet is that cities reach a finite size, and even though they grow and change, it’s nowhere nearly as rapid as the growth and change of the internet. Moreover, one senses that the longer one lives in a city, the more familiar one becomes with its geography, even without a map, and that learning the city is a real possibility. I think there is no possibility of ever mastering the geography of the internet. We will all, to some extent, remain immigrants, some of us more fluent than others, but all of us subject to the ever-changing patterns and overall incomprehensibility of the online world.
With that said, here was our assignment:
Choose a topic that you teach. You may choose to use the "problem" you identified in Module 4, and expand it into a Quick Quest for your Module 7 project. Research it using the search tools listed above, as appropriate. Some may be better suited to your topic than others. Compile a pathfinder (annotated list of resources you find) for use by your students from your search results. Submit your pathfinder to the Dropbox for grading, AND copy/paste your pathfinder on your blog.
Your pathfinder should:
1. Include at least ten resources
2. Include the url (web address) of the resource
3. Include a brief (1-2 sentences) annotation describing the resource
4. Tell which search tool you used to find the resource
5. Include a list of the search terms you used
6. Conclude with a paragraph explaining which search tool gave you the best results, and which tool was the least effective for your search.
Here is the chronological account of my work on this mod:
TOPIC: analyzing the Epistles of Paul
1. What topic do I want to choose? What do I want them to be able to do? I want them to be able to study the epistles of Paul by themselves, determine its structure, determine his purpose in writing, the problems he was addressing, and how those solutions can be applied to us in the 21st century church.
a.Possible search terms:
i.Pauline Epistles
ii.Analyze
b.What am I looking for?
i.A do-it-yourself article
c.Using: DOAJ.com
i.Got a bunch of useless crap, offers for airline tickets, etc.
ii.Did a second search – again, pointless – I am not figuring this site out
iii.I clicked on the searchexplorer.com option, and was booted to an organized search page where I can click on anything from ringtones to realestate – no thank you. Not helpful – giving up on this.
d.Using scholar.google.com
i.Did a search – not sure how it finds things – clicking on “Help”
ii.Found an article available thru JSTOR; could only see the first page. Went to UW-STOUT library to access Jstor, did that, could not find the article. Read “Help” page. Used Article Locator. Did not find article, even though on another tab I can see the article’s first page, author name, and journal name. Read the warning that UWStout may not subscribe to a collection containing that journal. Clicked on the UW Stout collections, used “find on this page” feature of Explorer to search for keywords in the publication title – apparently the publication is not available. Another bust. Went back to the webpage showing page 1 of the journal article – clicked on “About the journal” and discovered it is part of J-store’s arts & sciences III, which UW Stout does not have.
iii. Going to try “Pauline Epistles Overview”
1.It seems “Google Scholar” is a great way to locate books or articles – but it seems you would have to be well-grounded in library skills, understanding how information is classified, to sort through this. Not user-friendly like the main google page.
2.Found an article – must be a subscriber
3.http://gcfweb.org/institute/paul/overview.pdf - Great article overviewing the historical context of the entire New Testament. Also includes a detailed explanation of all of the phases of Paul’s life and ministry. A must-read for any research or writing about Paul. (Found using scholar.google.com with search terms “Pauline Epistles Overview”)
4. http://www.coffeewithbarretts.com/writings/TheologyOfBiblicalApplication.pdf - a bit deep, but a great commentary on how to apply Biblical writing to modern life, based on the teachings of J.I. Packer. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
5. http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/V/ValleskeyPortrait/ValleskeyPortrait.PDF - The first part of this essay provides great insight into Paul as a person, which may help us understand his writings better. The latter half analyzes Paul’s approach to missions. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
iv.Searched findarticles.com – turned up the same fairly useless stuff that doaj.com did – links to books for sale, free ads, links to completely useless things like mortgages and ringtones.
v.Trying a9.com – skeptical, since it says it searches e-commerce sites and I don’t want to find information on a product. This is research stuff. VOILA. I like how this site will supposedly allow you to see information about the link before you click on it, but that didn’t work for me.
1.http://faculty.bbc.edu/Rdecker/nt_paul.htm#Pastorals – a wonderful page of links to sites pertaining to Paul’s letters. Some of his links may not activate at first click, but be persistent and hunt them down! (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
2.http://www.textweek.com/pauline/paul.htm – a number of links to sites about Paul and his writings. Many of these links will open up worlds of other links. (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
vi.Using Clusty.com – I like how this organizes its sites by clusters, and how I can see which are .com, .edu, etc – this helps me analyze the site before looking at it. Especially using the drop-down feature
1.http://www.torreys.org/bible/ - This up-to-date link page will help you find abundant information on Paul, his books, and his world. You can also find lots of other Biblical information on this page designed for Biblical Studies students. (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
2.http://www.iclnet.org/ - the Internet Christian Library – probably contains lots more than you want, but is a good reference point for all things Christian online. Use their Table of Contents to find specifically what you’re looking for, whether its Bible Studies or (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
3.http://thirdmill.org/paul/epistles.asp/category/epistles - provides concise information about the background and content of each of the epistles. Nice overview, not overly scholarly. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the clusters feature and dropping down their “Letters>Study” options)
4.http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/RefThemes.html - links, arranged by book, to a variety of topics about each of Paul’s letters. Also some general Bible study tools. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the drop-down features under “Clusters” to follow links about Pauline Letters.)
5.http://www.ntgateway.com/paul/ - another Paul links page, containing links to several sites already referenced herein (but that’s what makes it a Worldwide Web, isn’t it?). (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
6.http://www.luthersem.edu/ckoester/Paul/Main.htm - Photo tours of cities Paul visited on his journeys. (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
vii.Kartoo – freaked me out. To non-linear for me…
Conclusion
Before I began this mod I determined to use resources our instructor recommended rather than my familiar tools. This, I reasoned, would broaden my digital horizons. Therefore all of the sites I found were found using a fairly limited range of tools. Of all of them, I found Clusty the most comfortable – probably because of its appealing linear organization pattern. Google scholar was second because of the usefulness of its content (although some of it was inaccessible and therefore frustrating). The least useful were the Directory of Open-Access journals and Findarticles.com. These returned absolutely nothing but useless junk absolutely unrelated to what I was looking for. I do not know whether or not they might be useful for a journal search about something as non-specific as Pauline Epistles, but I suspect they will continue to return attempts at personalized content, mortgages, ringtones, and plane tickets.
The Pathfinder
http://gcfweb.org/institute/paul/overview.pdf - Great article overviewing the historical context of the entire New Testament. Also includes a detailed explanation of all of the phases of Paul’s life and ministry. A must-read for any research or writing about Paul. (Found using scholar.google.com with search terms “Pauline Epistles Overview”)
http://www.coffeewithbarretts.com/writings/TheologyOfBiblicalApplication.pdf - a bit deep, but a great commentary on how to apply Biblical writing to modern life, based on the teachings of J.I. Packer. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/V/ValleskeyPortrait/ValleskeyPortrait.PDF - The first part of this essay provides great insight into Paul as a person, which may help us understand his writings better. The latter half analyzes Paul’s approach to missions. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
http://faculty.bbc.edu/Rdecker/nt_paul.htm#Pastorals – a wonderful page of links to sites pertaining to Paul’s letters. Some of his links may not activate at first click, but be persistent and hunt them down! (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
http://www.textweek.com/pauline/paul.htm – a number of links to sites about Paul and his writings. Many of these links will open up worlds of other links. (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
http://www.torreys.org/bible/ - This up-to-date link page will help you find abundant information on Paul, his books, and his world. You can also find lots of other Biblical information on this page designed for Biblical Studies students. (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
http://www.iclnet.org/ - the Internet Christian Library – probably contains lots more than you want, but is a good reference point for all things Christian online. Use their Table of Contents to find specifically what you’re looking for, whether its Bible Studies or (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
http://thirdmill.org/paul/epistles.asp/category/epistles - provides concise information about the background and content of each of the epistles. Nice overview, not overly scholarly. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the clusters feature and dropping down their “Letters>Study” options)
http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/RefThemes.html - links, arranged by book, to a variety of topics about each of Paul’s letters. Also some general Bible study tools. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the drop-down features under “Clusters” to follow links about Pauline Letters.)
http://www.ntgateway.com/paul/ - another Paul links page, containing links to several sites already referenced herein (but that’s what makes it a Worldwide Web, isn’t it?). (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
http://www.luthersem.edu/ckoester/Paul/Main.htm - Photo tours of cities Paul visited on his journeys. (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
This mod frustrated me greatly. I do not consider myself ignorant or unadept at technology, but I must confess to feeling ignorant at several points during this module – not to mention hesitant to engage in it. What is it that makes us fearful of new technologies? I do not fear technology is going to take over the world, I do not fear buying a new gadget. But I can find them intimidating or overwhelming – and I think that is the case with the internet: its sheer magnitude, complexity, and non-linearness combine to create a labyrinth of information. Like living in a city with no map, you simply learn routes that take you where you need to go and then get you back home with no regard for the rest of the city. Perhaps this is what truly distinguishes the native from the immigrant. The native knows the city, its transportation systems, the shortcuts to take when traffic is bad. The immigrant simply knows how to get from A to B and sometimes C. If that system fails to work, the immigrant is stuck.
I learned from this module. I learned about different types of search engines, I learned that searching online can take more time than searching in a well-stocked library (although you have nowhere near the amount of information at your disposal). Most of the information skills I used today I learned in real libraries, so I learned there is value in going non-digital. I also learned about my own fears, apprehension of never “getting it all,” never developing a comprehensive grasp of the internet and its potential, what’s out there, my unending desire to find my own “God theory,” to borrow Einstein’s title for that which will make sense of everything in existence. Perhaps, to continue the city metaphor from the previous paragraph, the difference between cities and the internet is that cities reach a finite size, and even though they grow and change, it’s nowhere nearly as rapid as the growth and change of the internet. Moreover, one senses that the longer one lives in a city, the more familiar one becomes with its geography, even without a map, and that learning the city is a real possibility. I think there is no possibility of ever mastering the geography of the internet. We will all, to some extent, remain immigrants, some of us more fluent than others, but all of us subject to the ever-changing patterns and overall incomprehensibility of the online world.
With that said, here was our assignment:
Choose a topic that you teach. You may choose to use the "problem" you identified in Module 4, and expand it into a Quick Quest for your Module 7 project. Research it using the search tools listed above, as appropriate. Some may be better suited to your topic than others. Compile a pathfinder (annotated list of resources you find) for use by your students from your search results. Submit your pathfinder to the Dropbox for grading, AND copy/paste your pathfinder on your blog.
Your pathfinder should:
1. Include at least ten resources
2. Include the url (web address) of the resource
3. Include a brief (1-2 sentences) annotation describing the resource
4. Tell which search tool you used to find the resource
5. Include a list of the search terms you used
6. Conclude with a paragraph explaining which search tool gave you the best results, and which tool was the least effective for your search.
Here is the chronological account of my work on this mod:
TOPIC: analyzing the Epistles of Paul
1. What topic do I want to choose? What do I want them to be able to do? I want them to be able to study the epistles of Paul by themselves, determine its structure, determine his purpose in writing, the problems he was addressing, and how those solutions can be applied to us in the 21st century church.
a.Possible search terms:
i.Pauline Epistles
ii.Analyze
b.What am I looking for?
i.A do-it-yourself article
c.Using: DOAJ.com
i.Got a bunch of useless crap, offers for airline tickets, etc.
ii.Did a second search – again, pointless – I am not figuring this site out
iii.I clicked on the searchexplorer.com option, and was booted to an organized search page where I can click on anything from ringtones to realestate – no thank you. Not helpful – giving up on this.
d.Using scholar.google.com
i.Did a search – not sure how it finds things – clicking on “Help”
ii.Found an article available thru JSTOR; could only see the first page. Went to UW-STOUT library to access Jstor, did that, could not find the article. Read “Help” page. Used Article Locator. Did not find article, even though on another tab I can see the article’s first page, author name, and journal name. Read the warning that UWStout may not subscribe to a collection containing that journal. Clicked on the UW Stout collections, used “find on this page” feature of Explorer to search for keywords in the publication title – apparently the publication is not available. Another bust. Went back to the webpage showing page 1 of the journal article – clicked on “About the journal” and discovered it is part of J-store’s arts & sciences III, which UW Stout does not have.
iii. Going to try “Pauline Epistles Overview”
1.It seems “Google Scholar” is a great way to locate books or articles – but it seems you would have to be well-grounded in library skills, understanding how information is classified, to sort through this. Not user-friendly like the main google page.
2.Found an article – must be a subscriber
3.http://gcfweb.org/institute/paul/overview.pdf - Great article overviewing the historical context of the entire New Testament. Also includes a detailed explanation of all of the phases of Paul’s life and ministry. A must-read for any research or writing about Paul. (Found using scholar.google.com with search terms “Pauline Epistles Overview”)
4. http://www.coffeewithbarretts.com/writings/TheologyOfBiblicalApplication.pdf - a bit deep, but a great commentary on how to apply Biblical writing to modern life, based on the teachings of J.I. Packer. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
5. http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/V/ValleskeyPortrait/ValleskeyPortrait.PDF - The first part of this essay provides great insight into Paul as a person, which may help us understand his writings better. The latter half analyzes Paul’s approach to missions. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
iv.Searched findarticles.com – turned up the same fairly useless stuff that doaj.com did – links to books for sale, free ads, links to completely useless things like mortgages and ringtones.
v.Trying a9.com – skeptical, since it says it searches e-commerce sites and I don’t want to find information on a product. This is research stuff. VOILA. I like how this site will supposedly allow you to see information about the link before you click on it, but that didn’t work for me.
1.http://faculty.bbc.edu/Rdecker/nt_paul.htm#Pastorals – a wonderful page of links to sites pertaining to Paul’s letters. Some of his links may not activate at first click, but be persistent and hunt them down! (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
2.http://www.textweek.com/pauline/paul.htm – a number of links to sites about Paul and his writings. Many of these links will open up worlds of other links. (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
vi.Using Clusty.com – I like how this organizes its sites by clusters, and how I can see which are .com, .edu, etc – this helps me analyze the site before looking at it. Especially using the drop-down feature
1.http://www.torreys.org/bible/ - This up-to-date link page will help you find abundant information on Paul, his books, and his world. You can also find lots of other Biblical information on this page designed for Biblical Studies students. (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
2.http://www.iclnet.org/ - the Internet Christian Library – probably contains lots more than you want, but is a good reference point for all things Christian online. Use their Table of Contents to find specifically what you’re looking for, whether its Bible Studies or (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
3.http://thirdmill.org/paul/epistles.asp/category/epistles - provides concise information about the background and content of each of the epistles. Nice overview, not overly scholarly. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the clusters feature and dropping down their “Letters>Study” options)
4.http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/RefThemes.html - links, arranged by book, to a variety of topics about each of Paul’s letters. Also some general Bible study tools. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the drop-down features under “Clusters” to follow links about Pauline Letters.)
5.http://www.ntgateway.com/paul/ - another Paul links page, containing links to several sites already referenced herein (but that’s what makes it a Worldwide Web, isn’t it?). (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
6.http://www.luthersem.edu/ckoester/Paul/Main.htm - Photo tours of cities Paul visited on his journeys. (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
vii.Kartoo – freaked me out. To non-linear for me…
Conclusion
Before I began this mod I determined to use resources our instructor recommended rather than my familiar tools. This, I reasoned, would broaden my digital horizons. Therefore all of the sites I found were found using a fairly limited range of tools. Of all of them, I found Clusty the most comfortable – probably because of its appealing linear organization pattern. Google scholar was second because of the usefulness of its content (although some of it was inaccessible and therefore frustrating). The least useful were the Directory of Open-Access journals and Findarticles.com. These returned absolutely nothing but useless junk absolutely unrelated to what I was looking for. I do not know whether or not they might be useful for a journal search about something as non-specific as Pauline Epistles, but I suspect they will continue to return attempts at personalized content, mortgages, ringtones, and plane tickets.
The Pathfinder
http://gcfweb.org/institute/paul/overview.pdf - Great article overviewing the historical context of the entire New Testament. Also includes a detailed explanation of all of the phases of Paul’s life and ministry. A must-read for any research or writing about Paul. (Found using scholar.google.com with search terms “Pauline Epistles Overview”)
http://www.coffeewithbarretts.com/writings/TheologyOfBiblicalApplication.pdf - a bit deep, but a great commentary on how to apply Biblical writing to modern life, based on the teachings of J.I. Packer. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/V/ValleskeyPortrait/ValleskeyPortrait.PDF - The first part of this essay provides great insight into Paul as a person, which may help us understand his writings better. The latter half analyzes Paul’s approach to missions. (Found using scholar.google.com, clicking on the “related articles” link of the previously cited article.)
http://faculty.bbc.edu/Rdecker/nt_paul.htm#Pastorals – a wonderful page of links to sites pertaining to Paul’s letters. Some of his links may not activate at first click, but be persistent and hunt them down! (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
http://www.textweek.com/pauline/paul.htm – a number of links to sites about Paul and his writings. Many of these links will open up worlds of other links. (Found searching A9.com for “Pauline Epistles”)
http://www.torreys.org/bible/ - This up-to-date link page will help you find abundant information on Paul, his books, and his world. You can also find lots of other Biblical information on this page designed for Biblical Studies students. (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
http://www.iclnet.org/ - the Internet Christian Library – probably contains lots more than you want, but is a good reference point for all things Christian online. Use their Table of Contents to find specifically what you’re looking for, whether its Bible Studies or (Found using clusty.com, searching for Pauline Epistles, going to the “Study” cluster, clicking a going to a page at Vanderbilt.edu, and using their links page)
http://thirdmill.org/paul/epistles.asp/category/epistles - provides concise information about the background and content of each of the epistles. Nice overview, not overly scholarly. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the clusters feature and dropping down their “Letters>Study” options)
http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/RefThemes.html - links, arranged by book, to a variety of topics about each of Paul’s letters. Also some general Bible study tools. (Found using Clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the drop-down features under “Clusters” to follow links about Pauline Letters.)
http://www.ntgateway.com/paul/ - another Paul links page, containing links to several sites already referenced herein (but that’s what makes it a Worldwide Web, isn’t it?). (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
http://www.luthersem.edu/ckoester/Paul/Main.htm - Photo tours of cities Paul visited on his journeys. (Found using clusty, searching for “Pauline Epistles,” using the dropdown features under “Clusters” to follow links about New Testament Studies, and pursuing links from one of those pages).
Friday, February 29, 2008
The Big 6
In this module we learned about the Big 6, a scheme for problem-solving. As an educational tool the Big 6 is a helpful organizing scheme for lesson planning. First, it forces you as a teacher to think through what you want your students to do. Second, it teaches the students a process for handling and processing information to produce a desired result. It is very similar to the McCain model (4Ds), but McCain deals a lot with setting up learning situations as problems. The Big6 assumes you already have a problem. The Big6 model deals more with finding and evaluating the sources of information, which is one of the most important steps for our google-prone students.
I will use the Big6 to organize and plan projects. I probably will not convert to this structure at this point in the year, as I have already begun using the 4D model, but in the future I can see using it. Definitely I will use the lesson plan model as a tool, and share it with other colleagues.
One concern I had doing the Big6 lesson plan was the amount of comment and explanation I had for the first to and last of the steps. There has been so much discussion in this module about the need to help students evaluate sources, find good sources, etc. Yet I look at mine and it seems like a very non-descript part of the process. Perhaps this is because I haven’t walked through it with my students. I have always provided them great detail on what I expect from them, evaluation criteria, and project details. I have not worked as much with this class on where to find information and how to evaluate it. Perhaps that is the missing piece for me.
I will use the Big6 to organize and plan projects. I probably will not convert to this structure at this point in the year, as I have already begun using the 4D model, but in the future I can see using it. Definitely I will use the lesson plan model as a tool, and share it with other colleagues.
One concern I had doing the Big6 lesson plan was the amount of comment and explanation I had for the first to and last of the steps. There has been so much discussion in this module about the need to help students evaluate sources, find good sources, etc. Yet I look at mine and it seems like a very non-descript part of the process. Perhaps this is because I haven’t walked through it with my students. I have always provided them great detail on what I expect from them, evaluation criteria, and project details. I have not worked as much with this class on where to find information and how to evaluate it. Perhaps that is the missing piece for me.
Ill-structured problems and discrepant events create opportune learning experiences
I began work on this module by reading McCain cover to cover. I’ve been waiting since the beginning of the course for my book to arrive, and when it finally did I plopped down and tore into it, underlining and highlighting. I had to put it down at intervals to digest and think about how this would apply to the class I’m teaching (New Testament Bible). How would I start using this approach to teach a very content-rich course with lots of information and not lots of application? Maybe I would have to change the approach, focusing on the content and ignoring the direction, approach, and conclusions the text leads to.
It seems like a silly question – the point of the Bible is not to be a fact-book, but rather a book to provide answers to life’s biggest questions. It should be easy to apply the PBL model to the content! The problem is that our students spend lots of time immersed in these sorts of situations – in youth group or Sunday School they talk about the application stuff more than the historical background of the books and people in the Bible. And while I doubt they ever dig into it as deeply as they might with a McCain type of problem, or a highly thought-out PBL lesson, they spend lots of time talking about how to apply principles, not learning facts and details. I volunteered to teach the course because I feel there’s an enormous hole in Christendom – we are very disconnected from our history, we don’t know our history, which means we really don’t know who we are. I want my students to be top-notch scholars – I want them to understand the application, but I believe to do that they have to understand the context(s) in which the book(s) was written in order to be ably to really apply the stuff. If they learn how to approach the historicity of a book, how to discern what the book is teaching based on its historical context, then apply that to their lives, they can take that with them anywhere. The problem is twofold: the textbook is full of facts and historical background (with some application), and the class meets twice a week. Each “chapter” of the text is easily processed in one class period. This means the temptation to simply waltz in, start the next ‘chapter,’ and neatly wrap it up at the end of 45 minutes is VERY strong. In fact, one could teach the class with very little prep (provided you have a decent grounding in the subject matter). And the students are well-behaved and moderately interested, plus I’m a good classroom manager, so you could bore them to tears and not have any evidence of it.
However, I decided that for the remaining weeks before Easter, we will depart from the “chapter to chapter” approach and look at the broad theme of Acts 12-28: Paul’s missionary journeys and the growth of the church beyond Palestine to the Gentile world. Having taught social studies for seven years, plus two more years of 6th grade self-contained, I immediately thought of planning a trip – let’s retrace Paul’s missionary journeys! OOOHH!! Lots of pictures, fun stuff – then I thought, “Wait a minute. I don’t even know where all he went on those journeys. I have a map in the back of my Bible to show me that. Besides, what’s the point of knowing it, other than winning a Bible trivia contest or something? No, that is not what I want them to learn.”
Then I had to wrestle – what did I REALLY want them to learn?
• Paul is largely responsible for spreading the Gospel beyond Jerusalem to the Roman world
• Paul’s writings form the basis for much of what we teach in churches today
o What we are to believe about Jesus and God
o How we are to function as believers in a local body
What was the enduring understanding I wanted them to keep with them forever?
• Christians in the time of Paul faced many of the same problems we face today
Knowing that the material after Easter Break is going to deal with how the book of Ephesians specifically addresses problems of past and present, I wanted to lay a strong foundation for the students to understand the historical context of that book. I also wanted them to understand that Paul wrote to a bunch of different churches, and that each of them was different and had similar yet different problems and situations. So I began crafting, and came up with the following list of specifically what I want them to know:
Choose one of the cities Paul wrote to and know:
-modern-day state of the city-why a church probably developed in that city (geographical etc)
-what that church was like (ethnicity, size)
-what problems that church faced and why (historical)
-how Paul encouraged / advised the church to deal with their problems
-how that advice or those principles apply to us today
I want a paper product (or a PowerPoint) and an oral presentation
Here’s the ill-structured problem, presented as a role play:
“Hello, I’m Pastor Dan. Several of the members of my congregation want to take a trip and visit cities the Apostle Paul wrote letters to. So I’m coming to you as travel specialists to request some information. I want each of you to choose one of the cities Paul wrote to. I want to know what that city was like when Paul wrote to it. I find that if someone can step into the shoes of someone who lived long ago, then they have a much better appreciation for what that person went through, what they wrote, and what they experienced, which means they can much better apply what that person has to teach us to their lives. That’s what I want. Any questions? Or is there anything else you can suggest you should tell me?”
Of course this is ill-defined, as McCain suggests, and after 15 minutes or so of Q&A they’d hit all the points of what I wanted them to do in the first place – but THEY came up with is, so it’s THEIR project.
Then “Pastor Dan” left, and Mr. Penn returned. At that point I asked what Pastor Dan had to share with them, if they wrote down details (some had), and explained, as McCain does, how they can “have power” over me by recording details specifically. So they spent the remaining few minutes comparing notes. Next time Pastor Dan will be back to clarify and verify, signing the contract.
OH – I forgot to mention the forms. Since we’re 2/3 of the way through the year I decided to provide them with the “Define” and “Design” forms. I’m not sure about the time sheet. I told them they could use another form to do their work if they liked, but the form I provided contained the information they needed to be sure they had.
EXPECTATIONS
On Tuesday I expect to see several fairly complete definitions of the project, some will be extremely vague. None will be complete entirely. However a couple of the students will remember enough to know what to ask to clarify (“Did you say you wanted…?”). I expect several will be raring to get to work on the project without actually defining & designing – and I expect to get complaints about having to go through the process. But I expect at the end of it several at least will see the value in it. I will need to build in a period to process the experience with them. Since I wanted to give them maximum time to work, I made the due date March 13. I may offer extra credit to those who present on the 11th so we can have time before break (March 17-21) to process. Otherwise we’ll just have to process after. I plan to force them to come up with the 4 steps, the 4 Ds, before I post anything spelling out the steps.
I expect the research part of this project will be the easiest for them, and probably the best – the pictures, the facts – the stuff you can Google. The application part / lessons you can learn, those may be trickier. Maybe what I need to do is modify the project – “Confer with Pastor Dan” and decide that the application piece should wait until after break so we have time to really dig into that… I’ve got to think more about this.
This is in process – we’ll see how it goes!
It seems like a silly question – the point of the Bible is not to be a fact-book, but rather a book to provide answers to life’s biggest questions. It should be easy to apply the PBL model to the content! The problem is that our students spend lots of time immersed in these sorts of situations – in youth group or Sunday School they talk about the application stuff more than the historical background of the books and people in the Bible. And while I doubt they ever dig into it as deeply as they might with a McCain type of problem, or a highly thought-out PBL lesson, they spend lots of time talking about how to apply principles, not learning facts and details. I volunteered to teach the course because I feel there’s an enormous hole in Christendom – we are very disconnected from our history, we don’t know our history, which means we really don’t know who we are. I want my students to be top-notch scholars – I want them to understand the application, but I believe to do that they have to understand the context(s) in which the book(s) was written in order to be ably to really apply the stuff. If they learn how to approach the historicity of a book, how to discern what the book is teaching based on its historical context, then apply that to their lives, they can take that with them anywhere. The problem is twofold: the textbook is full of facts and historical background (with some application), and the class meets twice a week. Each “chapter” of the text is easily processed in one class period. This means the temptation to simply waltz in, start the next ‘chapter,’ and neatly wrap it up at the end of 45 minutes is VERY strong. In fact, one could teach the class with very little prep (provided you have a decent grounding in the subject matter). And the students are well-behaved and moderately interested, plus I’m a good classroom manager, so you could bore them to tears and not have any evidence of it.
However, I decided that for the remaining weeks before Easter, we will depart from the “chapter to chapter” approach and look at the broad theme of Acts 12-28: Paul’s missionary journeys and the growth of the church beyond Palestine to the Gentile world. Having taught social studies for seven years, plus two more years of 6th grade self-contained, I immediately thought of planning a trip – let’s retrace Paul’s missionary journeys! OOOHH!! Lots of pictures, fun stuff – then I thought, “Wait a minute. I don’t even know where all he went on those journeys. I have a map in the back of my Bible to show me that. Besides, what’s the point of knowing it, other than winning a Bible trivia contest or something? No, that is not what I want them to learn.”
Then I had to wrestle – what did I REALLY want them to learn?
• Paul is largely responsible for spreading the Gospel beyond Jerusalem to the Roman world
• Paul’s writings form the basis for much of what we teach in churches today
o What we are to believe about Jesus and God
o How we are to function as believers in a local body
What was the enduring understanding I wanted them to keep with them forever?
• Christians in the time of Paul faced many of the same problems we face today
Knowing that the material after Easter Break is going to deal with how the book of Ephesians specifically addresses problems of past and present, I wanted to lay a strong foundation for the students to understand the historical context of that book. I also wanted them to understand that Paul wrote to a bunch of different churches, and that each of them was different and had similar yet different problems and situations. So I began crafting, and came up with the following list of specifically what I want them to know:
Choose one of the cities Paul wrote to and know:
-modern-day state of the city-why a church probably developed in that city (geographical etc)
-what that church was like (ethnicity, size)
-what problems that church faced and why (historical)
-how Paul encouraged / advised the church to deal with their problems
-how that advice or those principles apply to us today
I want a paper product (or a PowerPoint) and an oral presentation
Here’s the ill-structured problem, presented as a role play:
“Hello, I’m Pastor Dan. Several of the members of my congregation want to take a trip and visit cities the Apostle Paul wrote letters to. So I’m coming to you as travel specialists to request some information. I want each of you to choose one of the cities Paul wrote to. I want to know what that city was like when Paul wrote to it. I find that if someone can step into the shoes of someone who lived long ago, then they have a much better appreciation for what that person went through, what they wrote, and what they experienced, which means they can much better apply what that person has to teach us to their lives. That’s what I want. Any questions? Or is there anything else you can suggest you should tell me?”
Of course this is ill-defined, as McCain suggests, and after 15 minutes or so of Q&A they’d hit all the points of what I wanted them to do in the first place – but THEY came up with is, so it’s THEIR project.
Then “Pastor Dan” left, and Mr. Penn returned. At that point I asked what Pastor Dan had to share with them, if they wrote down details (some had), and explained, as McCain does, how they can “have power” over me by recording details specifically. So they spent the remaining few minutes comparing notes. Next time Pastor Dan will be back to clarify and verify, signing the contract.
OH – I forgot to mention the forms. Since we’re 2/3 of the way through the year I decided to provide them with the “Define” and “Design” forms. I’m not sure about the time sheet. I told them they could use another form to do their work if they liked, but the form I provided contained the information they needed to be sure they had.
EXPECTATIONS
On Tuesday I expect to see several fairly complete definitions of the project, some will be extremely vague. None will be complete entirely. However a couple of the students will remember enough to know what to ask to clarify (“Did you say you wanted…?”). I expect several will be raring to get to work on the project without actually defining & designing – and I expect to get complaints about having to go through the process. But I expect at the end of it several at least will see the value in it. I will need to build in a period to process the experience with them. Since I wanted to give them maximum time to work, I made the due date March 13. I may offer extra credit to those who present on the 11th so we can have time before break (March 17-21) to process. Otherwise we’ll just have to process after. I plan to force them to come up with the 4 steps, the 4 Ds, before I post anything spelling out the steps.
I expect the research part of this project will be the easiest for them, and probably the best – the pictures, the facts – the stuff you can Google. The application part / lessons you can learn, those may be trickier. Maybe what I need to do is modify the project – “Confer with Pastor Dan” and decide that the application piece should wait until after break so we have time to really dig into that… I’ve got to think more about this.
This is in process – we’ll see how it goes!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Implementing 21st century skills in my school
It´s a foregone conclusion that schools need to have up-to-date technology in place if our students are to be successful. I hardly think one would find disagreement. Nor do I think any parent or educator would disagree that students need to know how to use the latest technology. How is the issue.
Funding is an obvious problem, but not one I want to address here. We have to assume that someone will wise up and provide the funds needed to make the necessary changes. We must spend our time and resources planning what needs to change, and how we will implement the changes.
First, schools must motivate teachers to learn and use technology. I don’t think this will be successful if it is forced. Naturally some teachers will be better at it than others, some more intrinsically motivated than others, but that is the nature of teaching: not all teachers are good teachers. A combination of incentives and professional development offerings would be a good start. Saturday sessions, with incentives to attend, could be offered to bring the techno-immigrants up to speed with such basics as the Office package, Windows, e-mail, basic internet use, etc. Ample training on technologies used by the school should be offered as well – how to post to the school website, use the electronic gradebook, etc. After a couple of years this kind of thing must be mandatory, possibly requiring teachers to demonstrate proficiency at various technologies before being promoted to a new salary scale.
Once the majority of teachers are fluent in the basics, move on to more advanced technologies. Begin with things they can use right now in their classrooms. Digital cameras and photo software, creating websites, things that will enhance what they´re currently doing. This will warm them more to the idea of increasing their use of technology. Once they like it and get comfortable with it, they´ll wonder how they ever lived without it and hopefully want more of it. Administration can encourage the use of technology by circulating memos electronically – accountability and follow-through are important to ensure all staff members are checking e-mail regularly.
Simultaneous with this training, a task force should be convened to plan and strategize what new technologies should be implemented at the school, along what time frame this should occur, and how they should be implemented. This team should include in their plans a design for implementing 21st century skills, not just adapting new hardware and software. This would be the trickiest part, as it would require faculty training or retraining, not just installing hardware. As stated before, incentives and positive motivation would be the best way to get faculty buy-in. Sending key leaders within the school to conferences or devoting professional development time to raising awareness and building momentum would be good ideas. At any rate, you have to convince the faculty that this needs to happen, and they need to see that the leadership is committed ideologically, logistically, and financially to making it happen.
One the 1-10 scale we are a school hovering between 4 and 5. I think most students fall in that area, as do most teachers. I don´t think this is because we as a school are working towards the goal of being a 10, I think it is just a fact of who we are and who our students are. We could just as easily be a 1 or a 10. We have no direction in this area.
For us, getting faculty buy-in will be the hardest part. We have a young, fairly untrained staff. They feel overwhelmed by our current curriculum writing processes. We have a director that seems to have little sense of direction in this area (to be fair she inherited this position, along with its problems, a year ago). Morale is low or negative. Talk of change raises hackles. Getting them on board is key, and will be our biggest challenge.
We are most advanced in our use of 21st century tools. Since most of our staff is young, most of us are comfortable in techno world. We use web services to post grades, lessons, and homework, to communicate with parents. This is not a barrier for us. Also, our technology is pretty up-to-date, and we have opportunities to partner with businesses in the community to bring in more advanced technologies. Budget is a challenge, but if the need were presented, I believe we could find donors. So obtaining equipment isn´t a huge deal.
For me to lead by example I need to become more fluent in the technologies that enable collaboration: wikis, google documents, video conferencing. I have a facebook site and I have used instant messaging quite a lot, but I am not fluent in them and don´t find them useful for what I need to do or who I am in life.
Funding is an obvious problem, but not one I want to address here. We have to assume that someone will wise up and provide the funds needed to make the necessary changes. We must spend our time and resources planning what needs to change, and how we will implement the changes.
First, schools must motivate teachers to learn and use technology. I don’t think this will be successful if it is forced. Naturally some teachers will be better at it than others, some more intrinsically motivated than others, but that is the nature of teaching: not all teachers are good teachers. A combination of incentives and professional development offerings would be a good start. Saturday sessions, with incentives to attend, could be offered to bring the techno-immigrants up to speed with such basics as the Office package, Windows, e-mail, basic internet use, etc. Ample training on technologies used by the school should be offered as well – how to post to the school website, use the electronic gradebook, etc. After a couple of years this kind of thing must be mandatory, possibly requiring teachers to demonstrate proficiency at various technologies before being promoted to a new salary scale.
Once the majority of teachers are fluent in the basics, move on to more advanced technologies. Begin with things they can use right now in their classrooms. Digital cameras and photo software, creating websites, things that will enhance what they´re currently doing. This will warm them more to the idea of increasing their use of technology. Once they like it and get comfortable with it, they´ll wonder how they ever lived without it and hopefully want more of it. Administration can encourage the use of technology by circulating memos electronically – accountability and follow-through are important to ensure all staff members are checking e-mail regularly.
Simultaneous with this training, a task force should be convened to plan and strategize what new technologies should be implemented at the school, along what time frame this should occur, and how they should be implemented. This team should include in their plans a design for implementing 21st century skills, not just adapting new hardware and software. This would be the trickiest part, as it would require faculty training or retraining, not just installing hardware. As stated before, incentives and positive motivation would be the best way to get faculty buy-in. Sending key leaders within the school to conferences or devoting professional development time to raising awareness and building momentum would be good ideas. At any rate, you have to convince the faculty that this needs to happen, and they need to see that the leadership is committed ideologically, logistically, and financially to making it happen.
One the 1-10 scale we are a school hovering between 4 and 5. I think most students fall in that area, as do most teachers. I don´t think this is because we as a school are working towards the goal of being a 10, I think it is just a fact of who we are and who our students are. We could just as easily be a 1 or a 10. We have no direction in this area.
For us, getting faculty buy-in will be the hardest part. We have a young, fairly untrained staff. They feel overwhelmed by our current curriculum writing processes. We have a director that seems to have little sense of direction in this area (to be fair she inherited this position, along with its problems, a year ago). Morale is low or negative. Talk of change raises hackles. Getting them on board is key, and will be our biggest challenge.
We are most advanced in our use of 21st century tools. Since most of our staff is young, most of us are comfortable in techno world. We use web services to post grades, lessons, and homework, to communicate with parents. This is not a barrier for us. Also, our technology is pretty up-to-date, and we have opportunities to partner with businesses in the community to bring in more advanced technologies. Budget is a challenge, but if the need were presented, I believe we could find donors. So obtaining equipment isn´t a huge deal.
For me to lead by example I need to become more fluent in the technologies that enable collaboration: wikis, google documents, video conferencing. I have a facebook site and I have used instant messaging quite a lot, but I am not fluent in them and don´t find them useful for what I need to do or who I am in life.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
How will CCA meet the challenge of teaching 21st century skills to 21st century learners using 21st century tools?
We are at the early stages in everything but 21st century tools and learning content. The MILES assessment rates us as transitional in the area of learning and teaching, and that may be partially accurate. Perhaps the strongest thing we have going for us is a young teaching staff unafraid of technology. We also have an administrator who wants to make us a better, stronger school, and sees technology as a big part of that.
Critical factors to making progress: teaching the teachers. We are a young school, so young, in fact, that we don’t have documented curriculum. We are in the process of writing our scope and sequences and one day will move on into standards and benchmarks. This is a beneficial process, but it’s meeting lots of resistance from our young staff, partly because they are confused and frustrated (lack of experience), partly because it’s forcing us to define what we will teach and what we think is important rather than simply teaching what we like, which was the MO up until a year or so ago. The challenge will be presenting the need to teach 21st century skills using 21st century technology in a way that isn’t overwhelming. Since there’s so much transition happening already with the curriculum process, I think it might do them in.
One obvious area of concern would be the director and the board, but I’m not sure this will be a huge challenge. I passed several of the articles we read for this course on to my director, and I think she’s wise enough to see the need. Our board, too, is made up of business people, so I think they’ll be supportive. But our priority at this point is to get organized and functioning, THEN we can start thinking 21st century. I think we’re three years away from being able to really rethink things. It’s never too early to start people thinking, but to look top-to-bottom at the program and make revisions, too much for now.
A major barrier is our location. Our teachers will need professional development, and probably some cheerleading, to get through the major transitions this kind of overhaul will entail. There’s nobody else down here thinking 21st century in the way these articles describe. We have few, if any, local models. Yes, the internet puts the world at our fingertips, but is anyone doing online mentoring to walk people through the process of 21st century skill implementation? Where will our professional development come from? Additionally, who on our staff will be the advocates for change? Will it be possible to get that one teacher whose passionate about changing to get the others on board?
Critical factors to making progress: teaching the teachers. We are a young school, so young, in fact, that we don’t have documented curriculum. We are in the process of writing our scope and sequences and one day will move on into standards and benchmarks. This is a beneficial process, but it’s meeting lots of resistance from our young staff, partly because they are confused and frustrated (lack of experience), partly because it’s forcing us to define what we will teach and what we think is important rather than simply teaching what we like, which was the MO up until a year or so ago. The challenge will be presenting the need to teach 21st century skills using 21st century technology in a way that isn’t overwhelming. Since there’s so much transition happening already with the curriculum process, I think it might do them in.
One obvious area of concern would be the director and the board, but I’m not sure this will be a huge challenge. I passed several of the articles we read for this course on to my director, and I think she’s wise enough to see the need. Our board, too, is made up of business people, so I think they’ll be supportive. But our priority at this point is to get organized and functioning, THEN we can start thinking 21st century. I think we’re three years away from being able to really rethink things. It’s never too early to start people thinking, but to look top-to-bottom at the program and make revisions, too much for now.
A major barrier is our location. Our teachers will need professional development, and probably some cheerleading, to get through the major transitions this kind of overhaul will entail. There’s nobody else down here thinking 21st century in the way these articles describe. We have few, if any, local models. Yes, the internet puts the world at our fingertips, but is anyone doing online mentoring to walk people through the process of 21st century skill implementation? Where will our professional development come from? Additionally, who on our staff will be the advocates for change? Will it be possible to get that one teacher whose passionate about changing to get the others on board?
Friday, February 1, 2008
Welcome & Intro
This blog contains my thoughts and reactions to what I'm learning about preparing students for the 21st century.
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