The Disruptors
A couple of years ago CBC's The Current ran a season long project called The Disruptors. Every Friday one of the segments featured "Moments of Disruption: stories about people, ideas and events that are upsetting the orthodoxy for better or for worse... changing how we live, our sense of ourselves and society". As I listened to these segments, I thought of disruptions both personally and professionally and how they have molded me as a person.
Professionally, I think back to the my first 1P math class where I learned about the importance of building relationships. Then there was putting students in pods instead of rows and for the first time I truly heard students talk about math and solve problems collaboratively. Then there was changing the course plans from traditional units to spiralling or cycling the curriculum. Students questioned and made connections in places I never thought they would. Most recently it has been Peter Liljedahl, VNPS (vertical non-permanent surfaces) and The Thinking Classroom. I am seeing even more communicating and risk taking when solving problems - they talk and if mistakes are made or strategies changed, it isn't permanent, it is just wiped away. They can also easily see other strategies and discuss efficiencies. I think back to my experiences in industry and now I see students working through problems like they would in many offices around the world. Now for my next major disruption: coding.
I was in my colleague Jessica McGregor's 1D science class last week. Students were animating The Carbon Cycle using Scratch. Jessica had set up a project with a default background and a number of Sprites that students could "remix" as their own. Jessica and I share 10 students and they were excited to use what they had learned in my class about coding in Science class. I saw so many different ways that students were using coding to solve the problem. Some were using efficient strategies, others, not so much. Students were exploring Scratch with confidence, looking through the blocks to see what was available and how it might be used. But, just like in the Math classes, all students were engaged and on task, consolidating the carbon cycle in their own creative and innovative way.
Comments I heard: "Hey Ms. Clark, this is just like we did last week!" or "This is really fun." or "Why can't we do this more often?". The most disruptive one: "What other class can I do this in?"
In this situation who/what are the disruptors? Is it the students? Is it the educators? Is it the technology? Is it all three? I am feeling disrupted as I am seeing a new direction for students consolidating their learning. I wonder if students are feeling the same? Are they beginning to see coding isn't it's own subject area and is a transferable skill like reading, writing and mathematics?
The idea of careers in engineering or computer science are shifting. So many career have coding related areas. You can find engineering and computer science in art, fashion, business, design, medicine/health and sports. Where does the overlap stop, I don't think it does.
Let the disruptions continue....
Professionally, I think back to the my first 1P math class where I learned about the importance of building relationships. Then there was putting students in pods instead of rows and for the first time I truly heard students talk about math and solve problems collaboratively. Then there was changing the course plans from traditional units to spiralling or cycling the curriculum. Students questioned and made connections in places I never thought they would. Most recently it has been Peter Liljedahl, VNPS (vertical non-permanent surfaces) and The Thinking Classroom. I am seeing even more communicating and risk taking when solving problems - they talk and if mistakes are made or strategies changed, it isn't permanent, it is just wiped away. They can also easily see other strategies and discuss efficiencies. I think back to my experiences in industry and now I see students working through problems like they would in many offices around the world. Now for my next major disruption: coding.
I was in my colleague Jessica McGregor's 1D science class last week. Students were animating The Carbon Cycle using Scratch. Jessica had set up a project with a default background and a number of Sprites that students could "remix" as their own. Jessica and I share 10 students and they were excited to use what they had learned in my class about coding in Science class. I saw so many different ways that students were using coding to solve the problem. Some were using efficient strategies, others, not so much. Students were exploring Scratch with confidence, looking through the blocks to see what was available and how it might be used. But, just like in the Math classes, all students were engaged and on task, consolidating the carbon cycle in their own creative and innovative way.
Comments I heard: "Hey Ms. Clark, this is just like we did last week!" or "This is really fun." or "Why can't we do this more often?". The most disruptive one: "What other class can I do this in?"
In this situation who/what are the disruptors? Is it the students? Is it the educators? Is it the technology? Is it all three? I am feeling disrupted as I am seeing a new direction for students consolidating their learning. I wonder if students are feeling the same? Are they beginning to see coding isn't it's own subject area and is a transferable skill like reading, writing and mathematics?
The idea of careers in engineering or computer science are shifting. So many career have coding related areas. You can find engineering and computer science in art, fashion, business, design, medicine/health and sports. Where does the overlap stop, I don't think it does.
Let the disruptions continue....
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