Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The Nightmare Before Christmas
I am not an impostor attempting to drown education with a flood of technology.
In the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Pumpkin King is bored with his old routines in Halloween Town. He gets a glimpse Christmas Town and decides it would be much better to be Santa Claus. He hatches a plan, kidnaps Santa and tries to step into his shoes. Jack Skellington is shot down as he rides a coffin driven by skeleton reindeer across the sky. In the end, Jack is not successful, but is happy with who he is, and Santa holds no hard feelings.
My re-write, would change the ending. Because ultimately, I want to be successful in my endeavors. (I want to be the King of Halloween Town and Santa too) However, to be successful, I will really have to integrate a great deal of content across multiple subject areas. I will have to utilize what is already out there and be willing to collaborate and sometimes step outside of my comfort zone.
I have since started doing more project based learning, approaching instruction as a unit of study rather than an individual lesson. I think it is easier to integrate a variety of subjects within projects. I can incorporate, all areas of language arts, science, and social studies within these projects. (Which currently seem to meld better with the Common Core Curriculum Guides) My students are able to utilize technology as a tool for researching, learning, and presenting. I hope my class will be able to understand how technology can make them more efficient learners.
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5 comments:
Great post! Project based units is what 21st century skills are all about.
Could you let me know how your flipped classroom is working? This year for Pinnacle I focused on a blended room instead of a flipped, but am still intrigued with possibilities. Love the Nightmare before Christmas tie in :)
My flipped classroom is not as flipped as I would like it to be, but I am always adding a bit more. I have learned, that although many of my students do not have computers with Internet access at home, I have found many have access to smart phones. That has changed my thought process as to the format of home instruction.
I always love your metaphors for explaining your progress. :-) I know that you are not where you want to be, but you need to realize that your classroom was already pretty integrated with technology and that your students may not always be ready for a total flip. I have found that my kiddos especially are often so trained to learn in a traditional classroom that any changes to that are scary and cause them to flip out a little. I'm hoping that eventually teachers before me will start to wean my kiddos from their total reliance on the "teacher" as the authority on all things. Keep it up. :-)
Well said, Becky! I am striving to create a blending learning environment. My students love it. I would love to transition to the flipped classroom, so its in my thoughts and plans, a step at a time. I have not seen that movie, so great summary and correlation to the world of teaching! I always enjoy seeing what you're up to in your classroom.
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