It has been far too long since I have written for my blog. What follows is a post that I had initially started in October 2016, but never got around to finishing. This was partly because I was busy and partly because what was expected to take about six to eight weeks, actually took far longer than that.
There has always been a hands on element to my Marine Biology classes, but this past school year (2016-2017) I tried to make a bigger shift. I feel that there will always be an element of information presenting, but I have been trying to cut back on the volume of information that students need to "know." I don't want students doing independent research all the time and I'm not sure that I want to launch completely into project based learning (PBL). So now I'm somewhere in the middle. Looking for meaningful activities that can supplement and reinforce the general topics we are covering. It would be great to develop these types of things outside of the school year, but that never works out the way that I would like it to and, whenever I try activities out on my own, they always work differently when I try to do them with students in class.
0 Comments
I have thought about blogging for myself for quite some time. Many years, in fact. I've heard about the benefits of using this method to reflect on professional life in an organized and open manner, but had never actually gotten around to it. Well, this my blog and this is me reflecting. My focus this time around will be on student blogs.
The goal behind this type of activity is similar for students as it can be for adults. Students get the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned and apply that knowledge to different situations. It also can help to develop critical thinking and an awareness of the important qualities of digital citizenship. So I have had my website up for about a month and I just wasn't getting around to putting a blog post together, so I decided that I just needed to do it and I sat down and put this together. It took me a while of working on this off and on and it could be better developed, but it is what it is. I am thinking that I may try to aim for a blog post per month rather than over extend myself any more. If I get more than that, it will be a celebration. Please share any thoughts that you may have in the comments as I work to develop my "voice." Enjoy? It doesn't matter what field you work in, professional development is an essential part of any career. In education, there are generally requirements for how many credit hours teachers must accrue over a period of time. In order to stack up a significant number of credits you need to spend significant amounts of your time at conferences, seminars, training sessions, etc. Many of these are not close to home so you can factor in some additional travel time. While I am able to earn those precious PD credits, I usually leave wishing I had gotten more out of the experience. I have heard people say that "as long as you leave with one thing that you can bring back, it is a successful event." One thing? As teachers, our time is limited and we like to get the most out of that precious commodity as possible. As teachers we strive to engage our students and make learning authentic. Why should our own learning be any different? Why does our professional development so often involve being talked at? There has to be a way to share meaningful ideas and gain relevant insights in a more concentrated form. So what does that look like?
I just recently launched my website. It is still under development in many areas and the first official blog post will be coming soon. Until then, feel free to check out the areas I have completed.
- Chris Maraghy |
"Make something great. Not because it will sell. Not because it's on the test. Not because it's your job. Merely because you can." Archives
July 2017
Categories
All
|