Inventiveness

After watching the video about creativity in schools, I agree with Ken Robinson that there is not enough emphasis on creativity for today's students. There should be more appreciation for creativity, however it is much more difficult to evaluate than traditional learning styles. Most creative work is subjective; one person may think it is very well done and some else may think it is trash. Also, many students feel that they are not creative, myself included, and some students who can come up with ideas out of thin air, which could lead to students feeling that school is unfair. Therefore I feel many teachers are deterred from incorporating creativity into the classroom. On the other hand I think there is still opportunity for creativity at school. Students can take art classes or add on to class projects.
I feel that creativity is a very important skill for the 21st century. For many careers we will have to be able to think outside of the box, or do something extraordinary. Even though I feel that creativity exists in today's schools, I feel that there could be much more emphasis placed on it to help prepare students for the real world. Students also have to take it into their own hands and make the most of opportunities to be creative.

-mike

role play response

I believe that role playing and mock arguments can be very successful approaches to learning, however not for me. Everyone learns differently; arguing can help some people stick information to memory, and others (like myself) struggle to do so. I get very caught up in the moment and start thinking too hard about winning the debate and not focusing on my learning. I am also very quick to judge, so regardless of their true opinions, I become very frustrated with people, and this too distracts me from learning. A third reason I dislike arguing in the classroom, is that it becomes very dominant. Only one person can talk at a time or else it gets out of control and turns into a yelling match. Often it becomes just a few people doing all the talking though, and not giving others a chance to speak. Going off of that, the argument becomes way too personal and emotions get involved; people start just throwing in their two cents about everything. The discussion gets way off topic to the point that learning cannot occur except for the fact that school teachers in California are way too relaxed, Edina High School is way too rich, and it is never too young to start your kids in competitive sports.
I felt like the role playing activity was an ok introduction to learning accountability because many issues were brought up, and we were forced to think from many different perspectives. However I do not feel like any deep learning was accomplished, at least no more than I could have learned just thinking about each viewpoint and some lecturing. I do not grasp much of the no student left behind legislation, following that activity, and no work was done. We did not further anything but instead just yelled about the problems already encountered. I believe people found the role playing much more enjoyable than just a lecture, so for that reason I think role playing was preferred over a regular class, but in our class, a regular day is a big argument anyways, so whats the difference?? Maybe you cannot tell, but I hate our classroom environment. It is just one big argument amongst a small group of students, who each want to tell their personal story from school and say the politically correct thing. It is very hard to focus on what is being taught because we get off topic so quickly every day.
I agree with the belief that before students engage in learning a subject they should have a basic understanding of it. I think it would have really helped me out, and like I mentioned before I did not know much about NCLB and still don’t. It’s the same reason we read the chapter before we discuss it in class. Without any basic knowledge, a lecture is just a teacher talking at us, not to us. The student will be learning everything on the fly, and the information will not stick. I also believe that it is important to have some emotional engagement in the learning process. Whether that be just a desire for a good grade or fighting to win an argument; without a desire to learn, the student will not retain any of the information. A student has to want to learn something, to learn it successfully. It is so hard to focus in classes that you do not care about, and therefore you may learn the information, but will not retain it, but rather forget it as soon as you are finished with the test or class. Finally, I do believe that we pay more attention to high achieving and more influential people. If someone is more influential, and has more pull or more wealth, they may contribute more than someone failing school and working minimum wage. It’s pretty simple. A high achieving student will definitely get more of the focus than a student barely getting by. There is a natural infatuation with success. People like the star quarterback; people are not fond of the quiet kid in class.
I believe that role playing can be a very successful tool in the classroom with enough cooperation. However, in the Monday class situation and with our class specifically, it does very little for learning. But maybe that’s just me.

-Mike

Passion

When I think about passion in regards to teaching I think of Jim Halvorson, my AP calculus teacher. Mr. Halvorson absolutely loved to teach and you could see it every single day of class. He was one of the oldest teachers I had all through high school, yet he was very youthful and exciting in his teaching. At his age, I wondered if he was going to retire soon and why he had not done so already, but I believe he would much rather continue teaching over a boring retirement.
He made math class one of my favorite subjects, even though it was math! Every day we would start with something fun such as a survey or video clip, just for enjoyment. He also had a great sense of humor and would always jokes or funny stories from his past. The most impressive thing to me though was how much effort he put in to the class. There were a few students in the class that struggled a bit, but wanted to be in the AP class anyways. Mr. Halvorson would spend countless hours helping every student that asked for it. No matter how many times we had to go over a subject, he was always willing to help. Several times he offered to stay after class or even go in before school started to give us extra help, even though I'm sure he would prefer his home comforts. One of my most vivid memories of him was during an interview with our school news program, in which he was asked why is he still teaching today? He responded "I've been teaching for along time, and searching for the perfect lesson plan. I still have not found that, and that is why I am still teaching." He also never missed a day of class, and I was extremely impressed by this dedication. Overall I felt like Mr. Halvorson wasn't just a great teacher, but a great person; he was extremely passionate about teaching and dedicated himself to his career. For these reasons, he is the perfect example or a teacher that made their subject much more interesting through their enthusiasm. He is also a strong reason why I am interested in teaching today.

-Mike