I know my blogging has not met the course requirement but I'm hoping because what I actually wrote is very reflective of how this class is affecting my thought process,how Im starting to notice higher order of thinking in my everyday, well everyday is a stretch but when Im challenged a little with something I read or try to understand. I'm hoping that I can start practicing this way of thinking more with my 10 year old. I recently watched the movie Doubt, and it is a play that had been adapted for the screen. While I was watching it I was wishing that I had seen it on stage rather than in movie form. Anyway a very thought provoking story and I wished I had someone to break it down with me. I needed an literature teacher to watch it with me, it would have been a lot of fun to try to understand. While watching this movie I started to relate this class to the movie. Nothing is given away, its all up for interpretation and what happens is life changing for everyone involved and in the end their is still doubt. What a strong word. What a strong impact this class has made.

I have been reading past responses and questions for my paper and I am concerned about my contributions. It seems my question are not as insightful as I thought. It seems that most of my time has been spent in a state of confusion. I think in the beginning I was trying too hard to understand and relate to everyday life situations. I even noticed how some of my responses were not directly related to what was being said. I did notice some progression of understanding by reading and relating a higher order of thinking and assuming certain challenges were not an issue for the sake of the lesson. I'm impressed by my classmates and their responses, especially the ones who I know are not currently teaching and have not been teaching for a while(Libba, Dana). I would love to teach with them, I find their abilities impressive and I could learn a lot from them. I think they have the same background that I do as far as being moms and staying home with kids for so long. But, I'm impressed with their ability to understand this class so well.

Art and C and SC

Ive been thinking back of how I have personally experienced C and SC. I have no recollection of this in highschool, although there may have been some well meaning teachers who tried. I guess the closest would be in college but I distinctly remember rules lots of rules and expectations clearly laid out.
The other night I was at dinner with the kids (pizza) and I started looking around and there was alot of art, mostly prints of famous paintings. But it brought back an art class I took 3 years ago.
It was at Princeton University (cont. adult ed, mostly for fun.) anyway that was truly an life experience in many ways. This class was my first experience of no rules, class directed and clearly social interpretation. This class was filled with so many different people from so many different backgrounds. I remember the first couple of classes being so distracted with my classmates trying to figure out their story, why they were there, where they were from etc, I knew why I was there but my story was clearly not as interesting as theirs. You need to put this in the back of your mind while I'm talking but I grew up in small town Alabama where ethnic diversity, economic, social are all about the same. Anyway, my professor was an Irish man from Jersey who fell in love with art and anything Italian so he changed his name and moved to Italy to study art and now spends his time traveling back and forth teaching for extra money. My table was of 6 people, me 2 Indian ladies who mostly talked to each other but one of them was getting married and she mostly spoke about the Indian wedding traditions they were planning( fascinating), a local teacher who was taking a sabbatical just for the hey, a older man from Hungary(by the way did you know Hungary is famous for Paprika )and an Italian woman who was visiting with her husband who was a professor at Princeton by invitation. Anyway, we would be given piece art to interpret as a group and then on our own try to copy. It was so much fun to listen to each persons view. They suggested things that would never of occurred to me and I'm sure my limited world experience I suggested things that did not occur to them. I never felt mine were as interesting but sometimes they did. In the end I loved seeing their finished product. I felt I understood better, what seemed so one sided became multi-dimensional. Since taking that class I look at art in a whole different manner, and this is how i can personally compare what it must be like to experience c and sc learning in the class. I truly believe it allows students, people a whole new way of looking at the world, learning and just experiencing everyday just like me in the Pizza place with my kids listening to them interpret the art on the walls.

No class disadvantage or advantage?

Ive been reading post by other classmates on a regular basis. I feel I am at a serious at disadvantage because I am not able to discuss or add anything to what is currently going on in the classroom. I do not understand terminology, its purpose, school expectations etc. I feel my comments are limited to just asking questions. Like what is this?, what does this do? but that is as far as it goes.
Then again, because I am not teaching, I can focus more on the personal side side of what I learned instead of having so many outside factors to consider? When i do my reflections I will only be able to discuss how this learning experience has affected me personally. I hope this will be enough.

Frustrated? !

I have been struggling with the design of my new lesson. Which in turn has led me to do almost anything but what I am suppose to do. I started questioning the purpose of the class being its called Technology but not alot of teech has been introduced. I was directed by another student to re read an email sent out by victor that does clear up most of my questions. This is not a class only about technology.

Here are few of my current concerns. Learning to teach constructivism or social constructivism takes practice. I believe its great to start at the top with high expectations of a lesson a see where it goes, it only goes so far so be it. Not everything is going to work the way you plan.

Asking hot questions takes practice. I can not expect to be able to do this all the time.

Wheter I like it or not their are certain things students just have to know , no matter what route is taken to get there. school standards have to be met.

Not every situation allows for hot. There are some students who just are not capable of doing this.

Implementing the new lesson. Still have not figured out how this is going to be accomplished.

Why is blogging so hard for me? I guess this is why i never had a diary. I like to keep all my info in my head and go over and over it until it drives me crazy. I have always been told you should write down your thoughts so you can give it a end. I am now being forced to do so. I will do some recap to get caught up with where I am in my learning phase.

Learning theories, Cognitivist is where I began in this process, I have moved toward constructivist. I am comfortable with this. I know everyone is working toward toward social constructivist but that releases to much control for my taste. In ideal situation where students are all equally motivated and mature it would be great. I really believe that I as a teacher may not be able to keep up. I am still struggling with the proper way to stimulate students thought process in order to get the outcome I want. Isn't teaching and assessing making sure they know and understand what is to be learned? If students are going their own way all the time how will they know and understand fundamentals. Fundamentals are extremely important. Will students have their own prospective of what the fundamental is if they are allowed to "find their own way". I posed a question once and only one person responded Dana who seemed to understand my frustration with students interpreting their own truth. Not much was said other than we are to assume everyone knows the ground rules for this lessons purposes. In the end, it was said there is a place for all learning theories in the classroom and I believe this to be true. I believe you can not have one without the other they all build upon each other in some form. In my c class I would have to make certain the fundamental information was there before we could do any higher order thinking.

This is unrelated but a situation I have been thinking about. I have friends who grew up up north. As an adult I spent several years living in NY and NJ. (my husband graduated Cornell Law School this is where we met ) I recently spent time with one of my friends who she and her husband are both successful attorneys. I love spending time with them because they are interesting and they think and talk about all sorts of topics. They debate and come at you from all sorts of angles. I have discovered about myself that I can keep up in my mind but not verbally. I'm always just a few min. behind on the anwser. i can contribute some to the conversations but not a lot. Anyway, I started thinking maybe my lack of ability to reason the way do is because of my lack of experience with a constructivist or social constructivist education. In school even in college it (down south 20years ago) we had very few students who would participate in this sort of cantor.

Then another reason came to mind. She(my friend) was talking about an older sister who grew up in Texas. Who they saw very little but have as adults have been spending more time with. she made the comment that she thought her sister was not very smart because she could not participate in their conversations or just had very little to add. Then it occurred to me culturally we are different. We may live in the same country but certain ways of talking are not encouraged. Down south, we don't get together and discuss and debate controversial issues with everyone. It is not considered polite especially in southern women. Of course this is not stated out loud and I believe has changed over the past 20 years but women of our generation it is not the norm.

After moving home(Alabama) from Princeton, NJ I realized the stark difference in my Northern friends and my Southern friends. Though I missed the subtle ways of southern women I now appreciate the bold and brassiness of my northern friends. I admire their intellect not that southern women are not smart because they are they just don't feel the need to make sure you know it. These women are clearly social constructivist!!! I believe culturally, educationally its a normal way of life.

I know if I had been allowed to discover on my own instead of being told exactly what to think I would have been able to keep up more in these conversations. I had to learn as an adult to ask, think, compare, listen to their way of thinking then come to a conclusion. i found them extremely fun and loved learning. I guess this is my testimony for constructivist and social constructivist.