Passion, Curiosity, Questioning and Technology

I decided to create a WeVideo to share my thoughts pertaining to passion, curiosity, questioning and technology. Check it out! 🙂

https://www.wevideo.com/view/719619362

It was very interesting to read Thomas L. Friedman’s (2013) article, It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as I.Q., and I was very intrigued with his notion of people needing to be passionate and curious, not just intelligent. To be successful in today’s world, people need to embrace being lifelong learners. We have to keep challenging ourselves and continue to keep our curiosity levels high.

I believe that Friedman’s ideas correlate with Warren Berger’s (2014) ideas in his book, A More Beautiful Question. Berger states, “Part of being able to tackle complex and difficult questions is accepting that there is nothing wrong with not knowing. People who are good at questioning are comfortable with uncertainty” (p. 186). If you are truly a passionate and curious person, then you shouldn’t be afraid to ask hard and daunting questions. If you stay in the land of certainty at all times, are you challenging yourself? Are you raising your P.Q. and C.Q. levels? Berger further says, “…it’s common to think about the unknown and get an unsettling feeling in the stomach. A questioner must come to terms with that sensation the way an actor handles performance anxiety” (p. 187). I believe that in order to come to terms with the uneasy feeling, and to feel confident when undergoing passionate curiosity, a person needs to be an a safe and supportive environment.

I believe my classroom is an example of this environment. Hopefully my students feel supported and are comfortable with asking questions and exploring their passions and curiosities. This is why I decided to include the “Learn From Your Mistakes” video clip in my WeVideo. If students know that it’s OK to make mistakes, they will be more confident when exploring and questioning. As an educator, I also need to inspire my students and give my students opportunities to have meaningful learning experiences. This is why I included the 3 pictures of my students from this school year having meaningful experiences.

Furthermore, I specifically showed Berger’s (2014) book and a clip of Berger talking about questioning because I learned a lot from him and I want to make sure that I keep his ideas at the forefront of my mind when I continue to explore questioning in my classroom and in my own life. I will make sure to partake in appreciative inquiry and to concentrate on asking positive questions. Berger mentions, “Strength-based questioning focuses on what is working in our lives – so that we can built upon that and get more out of it” (p. 190). I will be sure to focus on strengths in my personal life and in my professional life.

Finally, I also decided to show an image and a video clip of TPACK in my WeVideo. When creating experiences in my classroom, I need to consider the context, the learning purpose, and the learning process for my students. I want my students to be able to strengthen their P.Q. and their C.Q. so I need to make sure I have a framework that can help them do that. I believe that following the TPACK model will help me to set my students up for success, and will help my students build on their curiosities!

I look forward to continuing to embody P.Q., C.Q., failure, and questioning in my classroom and in my life. Thanks CEP 812 for the helpful tools and information to make me a stronger educator!

 

References:

Amenclinicsphotos ac. (2014, June 30). Brain Thought Bubble [Digital image]. Retrieved July 24, 2016, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/125892716@N05/14583653246

Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Berger, W. (2013). What Kills Questioning? (Book trailer for A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION by Warren Berger). Retrieved August 17, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dey1Rm5gUxw

Big Think. (2014). Questions Are the New Answers, with Warren Berger. Retrieved August 17, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ALlGU2GYbk

Friedman, T. L. (2013). It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as I.Q. Retrieved August 17, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/opinion/friedman-its-pq-and-cq-as-much-as-iq.html?_r=0

M. (2013). TPACK in 2 Minutes. Retrieved August 17, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FagVSQlZELY

Reveilleau, G. (2014, April 18). Learn From Your Mistakes. Retrieved March 19, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf-uAGj4DuI

The Bakken Museum. (2013, August 15). Inventors-2-25-2012-149 [Digital image]. Retrieved March 19, 2016, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/thebakkenmuseum/9515163579/in/photostream/

Tpack. (2015, April 15). Retrieved August 17, 2016, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tpack.jpg

Vergés, X. (2011, June 24). Grow your people [Digital image]. Retrieved March 19, 2016, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/xverges/5866575567

 

Wicked Problem Project

Can failure be as powerful a learning mode as success?

This problem is what my group of 3 other peers at MSU and I attempted to find a solution to. The idea of embracing failure as a learning mode is most certainly a wicked problem, and it took us a lot of time, energy, and questioning to finally crack it.

We began our journey by reading Warren Berger’s (2014) book, A More Beautiful Question, and by following his questioning advice. Berger states, “Because being comfortable with not knowing – that’s the first pat of being able to question” (p. 79-80). My group and I had to clear our minds and had to stop thinking about possible solutions to our inquiry. We accepted not knowing how were going to solve this problem yet, and we began to ask many “why” questions pertaining to failure as a learning mode. We also created an infographic  visually represents our understanding of the complexity/wickedness of the problem.

Click the below image to view my failure as a learning mode infographic…

After doing much research, creating surveys, and receiving feedback from our communities of practice, we were ready to try to come up with some solutions. Berger (2014) says, “By ‘living with’ a question, thinking about it and stepping away from it, allowing it to marinate, you give your brain a chance to come up with the kind of fresh insights and What If possibilities that can lean to breakthroughs” (p. 109). My group and I did just that! We experienced breakthroughs together through our multiple Zoom meetings. It was really beneficial to talk through our problem and our findings together, and to come up with “what if” and “how” questions as a team.

After we came up with multiple “how” questions, and wrestled with different solutions, we finally came to a consensus. Before any of our other “how” questions can be solved, we first need to change the perception of failure. That is how we came to our “best bad solution” to the wicked problem of using failure as a learning mode.

Check out our Weebly page to learn more about our process of solving this wicked problem and to learn more about our solution! I had a wonderful experience with this project and I’m so happy with how well my group worked together. We had great communication and really tackled this assignment like a team. I’m proud of our multimodal presentation, and I hope you enjoy and learn from it!

http://failureaslearningmode.weebly.com

Reference:

Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Creating a Healthy Info Diet

In CEP 810, I was asked to reflect on my  Professional Learning Network (PLN). I then expanded my PLN by joining the RSS feed, Feedly, and populating it with relevant information. I also started following more educational feeds on Twitter. I thought I was on top of my PLN game!

However, I then learned about affinity spaces/filter bubbles in CEP 812. At first I was confused by this idea. There is SO much information on the Internet, how could I have a filter bubble? I then read about some ideas from James Paul Gee, and it started to become clearer. In Gee’s (2013) book, The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students Through Digital Learning, he believes that society needs diversity. There is more possibility for discovery when multiple viewpoints are considered. This made me wonder: Am I considering multiple viewpoints in my PLN?

I then listened to Eli Pariser’s TED Talk, Beware: online “filter bubbles and was surprised with what I learned. I was unaware that sites, such as Facebook and Google, could edit what I was seeing. During the TED Talk, Pariser states, “The Internet is showing us what it thinks we want to see, but not necessarily what we need to see.” This was very eye opening to me, and it made me want to broaden my horizons.

When I looked at my Twitter account and at my Feedly feeds, I realized that I actually am in an affinity space. A lot of the information that I am receiving is through colleagues, teachers, and educational sites. Also, all of these teachers and educational platforms are very pro-technology and big supporters of technology integration. I follow these feeds because they have similar beliefs as me. I fell into what Gee warns against: my affinity groups are feeding me information that I already know and agree with. Do I still learn valuable information from these groups? Yes, but I can’t be naive and think that everyone thinks the same way. I need to add some variety to my info diet by popping my filter bubble and expanding my affinity spaces.

In order to make my info diet more “healthy”, I needed to find new sources that challenge my thinking. To do this, I started by changing the viewpoint. I look at things through an educator’s lens, but how do parents view things? This question brought me to Twitter, and I found Education Nation. Education Nation is hosted by ‪@NBCNews, and is the creator of the Parent Toolkit. I also found helpful feeds called Kids and Learning and NationalPTA. Kids & Learning helps share tips and information to parents and caregivers when it comes to kids and learning, and NationalPTA is the largest volunteer child advocacy association in the nation.

Furthermore, I noticed that my info diet consisted of a lot of information related to elementary education because I teach 3^rd grade. This made me want to start following more teachers that teach at the middle school and high school level. I looked into my colleagues that teach higher-grade levels and was very impressed with what goes on in their classrooms. I also followed US Dept of Education to receive more news about the entire educational system, and New Media Consortium to explore the use of new media for teaching, learning & creative inquiry at higher levels. This feed also enlightened me with how to use the Arts to help students.

Finally, I wanted to explore feeds that expand my thinking related to failure as a learning mode. I searched on Feedly and found a great feed called Mindshift. It has information pertaining to growth mindset, productive failures, what parents can do to motivate kids in school, and much more. I also came across a feed called Always Formative that talks about assessment and implementing a standards-based grading system. I then found a Blog by Dan Meyer who advocates for better math instruction through experimentation and failure.I then went back to Twitter and found Jessica Lahey’s, the author of The Gift of Failure, page. I furthermore discovered the hashtag #ATAssess that links to feeds that talk about assessments and children leaning from mistakes.

I already feel so much “healthier” with my improved info diet! I look forward to reading what my new feeds have to offer. Using Storify, here are some examples of the new healthy info I will be consuming…

https://storify.com/rlgarland/creating-a-healthy-info-diet

 

References:

Gee, J. P. (2013). The anti-education era:Creating smarter students through digital learning. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Griffin.

Pariser, E. (2011, March). Eli Pariser: Beware online “filter bubbles” [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles