Blog #2 Standards and PLN's
Standards and PLN's
What does the research say about this?
Standards are important guidelines for teachers to follow. I believe that they are good tools to guide an educator as long as they know how to use them. However, like many things, they come with their own problems. According to Rebecca Alber of Edutopia, there are four "pitfalls" with having educational standards. She labels them as "The Hyperfocus" which is "...when one standard or two or three receive inordinate amount of talk and focus at school." The second pitfall she sees is "The Delusion". This is when teachers are trying to shove every single standard in to their entire year and make students hate their class. Third is "The Misfit". She is talking about the fact that one way of teaching doesn't fit all. Finally, there is "The Distortion". This is when we begin to focus on standardized tests and therefore we begin to teach towards the test. All of these problems face standards today. This means that it is our jobs as educators to work for our students while making sure to teach what is required. We must shape our way of teaching standards to fit our students needs. PLN's are Personal/Professional Learning Networks. Tom Whitby explains, "collaboration as a method of learning has been with us from the beginning of education...Technology has fundamentally changed collaboration by removing barriers of time and space." We can get ideas and work with other teachers from all over by building up a good PLN.
What does the research say about this?
Standards are important guidelines for teachers to follow. I believe that they are good tools to guide an educator as long as they know how to use them. However, like many things, they come with their own problems. According to Rebecca Alber of Edutopia, there are four "pitfalls" with having educational standards. She labels them as "The Hyperfocus" which is "...when one standard or two or three receive inordinate amount of talk and focus at school." The second pitfall she sees is "The Delusion". This is when teachers are trying to shove every single standard in to their entire year and make students hate their class. Third is "The Misfit". She is talking about the fact that one way of teaching doesn't fit all. Finally, there is "The Distortion". This is when we begin to focus on standardized tests and therefore we begin to teach towards the test. All of these problems face standards today. This means that it is our jobs as educators to work for our students while making sure to teach what is required. We must shape our way of teaching standards to fit our students needs. PLN's are Personal/Professional Learning Networks. Tom Whitby explains, "collaboration as a method of learning has been with us from the beginning of education...Technology has fundamentally changed collaboration by removing barriers of time and space." We can get ideas and work with other teachers from all over by building up a good PLN.
How can this be effectively integrated into your teaching?
I can effectively integrate standards in to my classroom by teaching my students first and finding how the standards fit the students. I won't make my students conform to a standard if it is going to make them hate reading and writing. I can also integrate my own PLN in to my teaching by molding ideas I find to fit my own class and my own teaching style.
How will this help your students?
Standards will help my students because it will make sure that everyone is on the same page if they happen to move schools. Each year of school will be learning the same ideas (even if they're in different ways) so students are less likely to fall behind. Having a good PLN helps my students because it will give me ideas for how to make my classroom more fun and engaging for the students.
What are your goals with regard to this topic?
How does this shape your vision for empowered learning for your students?
I can effectively integrate standards in to my classroom by teaching my students first and finding how the standards fit the students. I won't make my students conform to a standard if it is going to make them hate reading and writing. I can also integrate my own PLN in to my teaching by molding ideas I find to fit my own class and my own teaching style.
How will this help your students?
Standards will help my students because it will make sure that everyone is on the same page if they happen to move schools. Each year of school will be learning the same ideas (even if they're in different ways) so students are less likely to fall behind. Having a good PLN helps my students because it will give me ideas for how to make my classroom more fun and engaging for the students.
What are your goals with regard to this topic?
My goals are to make my class about the student first and the standards second. I want to make sure students are learning in a fun way without it feeling like the standards are being shoved down their throats. My goal for my PLN is to build up a sufficient network to assist me with my first few years of teaching and to maybe one day be able to contribute to someone else's PLN.
How does this shape your vision for empowered learning for your students?
This shapes my vision for empowered learning for my students because my students will feel more involved in my classroom if I shape it around them instead of the standards. My use of a PLN will also empower students because I will be finding ideas to help create a better learning experience.
Resources:
Alber, Rebecca. "Teaching Students Not Standards." Edutopia.org, 28 Feb. 2014, https://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-students-not-standards-rebecca-alber.
Whitby, Tom. "How Do I Get a PLN?" Edutopia.org, 18 Nov. 2013, https://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-do-i-get-a-pln-tom-whitby.
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