Is a reward necessary???

Wow!!! I really didn't expect to like Dan Pink's video, Puzzle of Motivation. When I started watching it, I was tired, ready to go to bed and zero motivated to continue with my masters homework. Boy was I surprised. I started watching it lying in bed, but as minutes went by I sat down and really started paying more and more attention.  Dan is so right. I grew up always being offered a reward in exchange of my best performance and I guess I was that kind of kid that wanted to get the reward rather than the satisfaction of accomplishing something greater. This TED talk took me back about 9 years, when I was working at a Starbucks coffee. I was 21 and working day and night to get myself through college. Mornings at the store where always hectic but there always was a time of the month were all baristas went all the way in our performance. SNAP SHOTS!!! It meant that for a whole week we would have undercover costumers visit us and grade our stores, skills, cleanness, attitude, performance, costumer service, etc. It was a life and death situation because a bad grade would automatically give a warning to all staff members, but a set of three 100% would give a BONUS!!! $3000 MX each!!! OMG we would work our a**es off during that week, most of us really needed the money but I remember thinking how sad that after that week, most of us would go back to our same old routine (not being as aware of every detail). We just worked very hard during that week because we knew that our gratification was worthy, but thinking about it, it was our obligation, written in our job description, to perform our best all the time. That is a trademark as a Starbucks barista. OK OK, know that being said, and going forward 9 years, I find myself in a kindergarten classroom rewarding kids behavior many times a  day. Shoking but true. If they behave their best during morning meeting and calendar, I add 2 minutes to their recess.   If they line up correctly and quietly I give them an extra minute, and if they clean up the classroom and make sure everything is tidy I give them another 2 minutes. So I see how they try their hardest everyday to earn those extra 5 minutes and I also have to admit that behavior that is contrary to the expected will take minutes away from their recess.  As Daniel was saying at the beginning of his TED talk, rewarding people on their tasks, will dull thinking and block creativity. Of course this has not been my intention but I have not been very creative myself and I have allow them to believe that what is an expectation from them in the class will always receive a reward. I believe that as a teacher, working with children in a International School I should work hard on motivating them to be creative, to be critical thinkers and also problem solvers. I need to teach them to reward themselves by feeling proud of their accomplishments, to always have the desire to do something because it is important to them and whatever is the result (could be a positive or negative outcome) is their reward. They reward themselves by feeling proud of their work, their own accomplishments. I hope to be able to learn how to change my primitive thinking on always expecting to receive or give something in exchange and teach my student to feel proud of their work without anyone giving them any gratification, only a big smile!

#PA3a

I leave this video for you guys to enjoy. It makes me laugh so hard, and it has a little bit of reward in it!

Traditional Classroom vs. PBL

Researching on Project Based Learning has really made me feel that sometimes in class we think we are a PBL classroom but still work as a traditional class. It is hard for teachers to let children go and let them be in charge of their learning. For teachers it is hard and difficult to stop teaching a class and only guide students along the way but as 21st century learners we need to change the way we see learning and give students the opportunity to explore and express themselves. Teachers need to be willing to participate in this learning process and teach students efficient strategies that will develop lifelong habits. As teachers, it is our duty to create a healthy environment, a learning pathway,  where students can engage and commit to learning and be reflective along the way of the results.

This chart shows, in a simple way, the difference between traditional classrooms and PBL classrooms. The most evident difference between this two is that PROJECT is the UNIT for PBL as for Traditional Classrooms is only part of the unit.
What is PBL?

Difference between  Traditional Classroom and PBL - Cacoo chart.

Internet Access in Different Countries

Teaching Visual Media in class

REFLEXION
Now a days the variety of media for children is amazing and very vast, but it can also be very dangerous. We decided to introduce billboards to our children because in the country and city we live in, we are surrounded by them everywhere. Not all of them are intended for children, but they still have access to them when they are walking in the streets or in their cars, looking out the window. Billboards are an excellent example of visual media, because they are intended to have very little writing or none at all and a lot of color and images because there is no time to take the time to analyze them, so the message is delivered pronto! I think that by doing this kind of activities at a very early age, having them try to interpret visual media, question themselves about its existence and purpose, will help develop visual skills. As I mentioned before, the dangerous part of this kind of media. is and has always been, subliminal messages. Its easy to hide pictures within the images to manipulate their thinking process and as we found out in many web pages, there is a lot of hidden, inappropriate things, even in Disney movies. It makes me sad but also aware of how careful I need to be displaying images in my classroom.

LESSON PLAN: CRITICAL THINKERS = VISUAL LITERATE CHILDREN

Objectives: 

Students will learn what ads are.

Students will recognize content of commercial ads.

Preparation:

Before going out on the next field trip, (TURIBUS),  teachers will show several pictures of ads to students. 

Teachers will initiate inquiry through questions such as: 

Do you see pictures? Which?

Do you see animals? Which? Do they look real? Are  they cartoons?

Do you see colors? Which?

Do you see letters? Big? Small?

How does this ad make you feel?

What do you think they are advertising?

Activity:

The day of the field trip, around the city, children will take pictures of ads they like.

Will discuss and reflect back in the classroom.

Culmination:

Class will be divided in three groups. Each group will create a collage with pictures they took during their field trip.

Each group will share with other two groups.

Reflection on Chipp Kidmann: Designing book covers is no laughing matter.

I really enjoyed Chip Kidds TED video.  He is a funny man that has a very interesting and challenging job. I think it is very important how books, even music discs covers, are presented. I am addicted to reading and addicted to music and after watching this video, I gave it a thought on  how much I am influenced by front covers. Not much, I really don't judge a book by its cover, at my age I care more about the title or the author. I am definitely more attracted to the covers of cd and vinyl's because its an art. People have collected  them for years and really talk about the front covers, sometimes, even more than the music.




As adults, we tend to have an idea of what we want to read, we might have an author in mind or even a topic, we browse the books, take a quick look at the title and immediately read the back cover. That small summary is what makes us take the final decision.






For children's books its another story, the front cover is very important. It has to be attractive, colorful and fun. They do choose the books they want to read by looking at the book cover. The pictures, the handwriting and the order of it. It needs to make them feel something, has to create an emotion in their heads. Thats how important the front cover is for them.







BOOK COVER ANALISIS

This book cover makes me think of a girly theme. The petals make me think someone goes through a very big change in life, that she sheds layers of problems until she can feel reborn again. The colors make me think the character its a woman, an adult and the font, the size and color make me think of a little pain.

 By looking a this book cover I think the book might be about a girl and her experience in love. I don't really like it.

 By looking at the book cover I can tell that time is involved in the story but not how. I needed to read the title and the subtitle to get an idea of the book. I was not attracted to the book cover.

Traditional Media and New Media

When I read the background and rationale of Module 6: New and Traditional Media from Media and Information Literacy the first thing that came to my mind was "out with the old, in with the new". Traditional media has been around forever; newspaper, television and radio have been part of us, our parents and grandparents lives. It has been the way all of us have heard or found out of something important. We have been addicted to one of them at least, and know, in a sudden wink, everything changed. For older generations, it has been a huge challenge to update their knowledge and change their ways from their usual traditional media to new media. Some people decide to stick to the old and easy but others have no choice. For me, it has been a must. As a teacher, new media provides amazing tools to teach children everything, from letters and colors to current world events and social skills. The challenge for me as a teacher,  with this constant change, has been preparing myself, learning how to use and apply new media to my teaching, my daily tasks and over all, my lifestyle. I teach kindergarten so its the best moment for me to introduce to this new generation many skills that will eventually allow them to have the abilities to be global citizens as well as to be information and visual literate people. 

All of this might seem overwhelming, as I have mentioned on each of my posts before, but when done slowly and thoroughly, changes like browsing the web for world news instead of reading a newspaper, feel good. We need to be also aware that we cannot participate in all of mass media changes. We need to understand that not all of what it is produce its intended for us, for the children in our classrooms. We still need to campare and contrast information available to select what we truly need. Not all of the apps available simplify our lives. Not all the information and news out there are true. I believe that sometimes going back to basics its not so bad, but I also know sometimes leaving a comfort zone can take you to incredible places and can help you make the best out of you, so, HELLO NEW!!!

Innovation through Technology

Cheryl Lemkes  21^st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn, chapter 11, Innovation through Technology  has really had an effect on my way of thinking about technology. Even as I began taking several courses on technology, I was still not very convinced on how much should we expose children to social media. I was reluctant to so much change and information, mostly because it was overwhelming to me to digest so much. As I read, it came to me that its true how important it is to prepare children not only to use technology wisely but to understand the importance that it has in their lives and how threatening it can be when not used correctly. Just reading the statistics on pg.. 243, it was mind blowing.
So what is left to teach in schools if everything can be found on the web?? How can you engage children inside the classrooms without losing them to their mobile devices? It has become a mayor challenge due to the rapid pace of technology and it has left teachers wondering what to do to engages students in school. 

I completely agree with Cheryl when she cites Richard Meyer on "people learn better by combining visuals with text and sound". As a kindergarten teacher I get to see how children that are exposed to this in class response much better than just being expose to one practice. As teachers, we need to be careful at this age because children are just like sponges and any misleading information can harm their learning. Its a challenge to lead a healthy learning environment in class and having them understand, at a very early age, the importance of being critical thinkers, able to discriminate useful information from just nonsense.