Week 1 - Edutopia webinar (brainstuff) reflection

Dr, Judy Willis’ webinar got me thinking that I’d like to see some of these techniques in action to have them cement a bit better in my head. This reflective blog is, in a way, doing some of the visualisation she was talking about. By reflecting on and reviewing the ideas of the webinar, we reinforcing the concepts, getting closer to the cementing I was thinking would only really occur through seeing it in action.

The way she described mental “stress” as a broader concept to include boredom, and how the amygdala will cease the ability to process new ideas in a stressed state is interesting.
- So students who have issues in the playground or are too far ahead and thus bored will find it difficult to keep learning.
- This led me to think about having a process for getting students ready to learn, the same way I have a ritual to get ready for sleep. I can’t say what the process would be, “get your books out and write the date” or “try solve this puzzle” or something, there are too many ways to list.
- Once this became an expected part of the lesson, it could become a "de-stressing" exercise every lesson.
Ensuring the students feel the classroom is a safe place (in Dr. Willis’ words by “enforcing the rules) feeds into this process. They know what to expect, and if they expect a stress-free environment they will by default HAVE less stress, prompting the amygdala to allow rest of the brain to make the connections necessary for proper learning.

Another type of stress Dr. Willis spoke about is the frustration of not being able to understand a concept right away. I’ve seen this first hand in the young people I’ve tutored in maths over the years. Even though I know they are perfectly capable, they believe they cant get it and this causes huge frustrations. To find a way to make sure they know its OK and stay engaged seems difficult from where I am now in my ability to teach. I’m keen to learn a few techniques here – as that frustration can really limit engagement.

Having extra/extension work for the students who are ahead seems obvious, but until Dr. Willis gave examples it seemed like a lot of extra work. Setting extensions tasks like “write a paragraph on how that might be applicable in real life” really doesn’t take long. And “buying some time” to focus on the students that are a bit behind by initiating class discussions serves to allow the average/extension kids to review the topic and cement the learning while working out where the lower students are not making the connection. Of course there would be other ways to keep the more advanced students learning while giving more assistance to the less advanced, but these are just a couple of ways.

When she spoke on getting past the RAS by using colour, music, costume, movement, surprise, advertising, discrepant event etc, she made it sound like it needs to be a big thing. To my mind it needn’t be. Something as simple as putting a “howstuffworks” or “mathsisfun” or similar clip or image on the whiteboard could be enough to begin the engagement. Having never seen an interactive whiteboard, I don’t really know what they can do, but I’m lead to believe they can show video. As a maths and science teacher (my goal) I cant really think of and math/science concept who’s explanation can’t be aided by a visual representation of the concept. Of course, depending on the concept, the old hands on Multibase Arythmatic Blocks or other aides they can actually touch rather than just see, might serve better, but for some concepts that is not possible (or at least very hard!). I was interested in the advertising idea. I’m currently pondering ways I could use that in my tutoring, especially now I know a bit about how the curriculum works I can get an understanding on what the student will need to learn next.

The discrepant events, to me, seems like the sort of thing I might have to keep an eye out for good resources. A stimulus that really makes a student stop and think for a sec wouldn’t come along every day!

The engagement technique (here me now) Dr. Willis spoke about is the sort of thing that could be used in all sorts of ways. It could be used to create a class unique dataset for any number of mathematics examples along with the weaving of these facts into the stories/examples a teacher may need to use in a class. Plus the process of recording this information on profile cards gives myself, as the teacher, an exercise in getting to know my students. Something I’m a little worried about is learning their names quickly enough! But the use of this material - in any way - would be instantly more engaging than hypothetical material (or even real life material if the students don't associate with it).

The course notes instruct me to "Finally, reflect on the shortcomings of the traditional classroom and curriculum in the light of the messages that have been delivered". This first involves a definition of "the traditional classroom". To me that involves a whiteboard, an OHT and desks. Most of what Dr. Willis spoke about can be implemented in this context. The use of video to me is the most remarkable difference, and perhaps how easy it is to use sounds and pictures (rather than having to have them printed out or find a CD with the sound, they can all be done quite easily on the computer). So I suppose from my perspective, I don't see the traditional classroom as "lacking", I just see the modern classroom as having extra ways of keeping learners engaged, without requiring unreasonably expensive/timeconsuming efforts from the teacher.