Kate's Take

 As a former middle school teacher looking to move back into the education arena, I find myself most interested in instructional design - how things have shifted in the past 14 years that I've been out of the classroom.  I've stayed on top of what is current by reading articles and watching what is happening in my sons' classes (often with much younger teachers that are familiar with new methods of teaching).   Through reading "7 Innovative Approaches to Course Design," I found myself thinking of different topics from my former Language Arts classes that would fit into the different approaches listed.  As someone who has a short attention span myself, I always was looking for ways to make classes engaging for self-indulgent reasons - it was more interesting for me than an "information transfer" experience.  Students DO learn in different ways, and using the different approaches, education becomes customizable, accessible and engaging.  My son recently ...

 I'm perhaps in a unique position because I have been out of the field of education in a traditional sense for 14 years.  My son will turn 14 tomorrow, and once I left for maternity leave, I intended to return to the classroom and just... didn't.  Now, 10 years into my second career, I know I want to get back to education - it is the training portion of my current career - the advising, informing, problem solving - that gives me energy and breath.  Finding new ways to communicate information to my colleagues and my clients, often through use of technology, is one of my favorite parts of what I do.   First, I renewed my teaching license.  I realized that it was incredibly easy to do online, and to professionalize for 10 years.  Check.  Then I knew I didn't want to go back into a traditional classroom.  I want to solve a problem, and the pandemic identified a big one - preparedness of public schools to move to virtual learning effectively....

 This week, I read “My Pedagogic Creed” by John Dewey and had a number of thoughts and reactions. Though this article was written in 1897, many of Dewey’s claims about education and what it ‘should’ be still resonate.  Dewey claims that education requires participation from a person. Several of his statements refer to the willingness of the child to enrage in the process, and he refers to the “instincts and powers” of the child. The power of the child is an interesting concept- it is true that a child or any person can be present, and not participatory. As a former classroom teacher (and a mother), I've experienced this frequently.  Another concept that is especially relevant right now is the role of school. This was a divisive topic early in the Covid 19 pandemic as schools shifted to virtual, and many parents were frustrated with having to supervise and manage their child’s education. Dewey suggests at the time of his article that schools were to be a continuation of ho...

This blog will focus on my thoughts and reflections as I navigate through the articles, lectures, and guest speakers in R511.  I'll include what ideas speak to me, what thoughts I disagree with, and sythesize common thoughts.