January 25th Post

            Learning occurs all of the time outside of school, whether it’s through experiences, friends, family, and even mistakes. I have learned many skills from my father, because whenever he was doing work around the house or in our yard, I would help him. By listening, watching, and trying for myself I learned how to many skills that are necessary for up keeping a home. I feel people can learn a lot from their mistakes. This past semester, I tutored four 8^th grade students from South Mountain Middle School in Pre-Algebra. One of my lessons was a traditional style review, where students would work on several problems and I would help them when they were stuck, and eventually review the questions. Suffice it say that this lesson was not very successful, so I knew that I need to do something differently. The following week I had the students pair up and each grab a dry erase board and marker. During the review I gave them problems to solve and when everyone was finished I reviewed their answers and helped anyone who was stuck. I then awarded each team two points for each correct answer, and one point for finding their mistakes, and then correcting them. I wanted the students to learn from their mistakes, like I did with the first review lesson. Thankfully this lesson went much better than the first one, and the students, performed well on their test.

            Technology plays a large role in everyday life, and it especially affects how people learn. “Of all the writing that the Stanford students did, a stunning 38 percent of it took place out of the classroom—life writing, as Lunsford calls it. Those Twitter updates and lists of 25 things about yourself add up.” This quote from the New Literacy Article is a perfect example of the tremendous role that technology plays in everyday life. This quote show that the Stanford students are writing on their own free time. This is really important because I feel that the best way to become a better writer is through writing, and these students are in a sense using technology to become better writers. Teaching needs to continuously change to meet the needs of students whose lives are intertwined with technology. I feel that it will be important for teachers and schools to use technology in ways that make the students excited, and motivated to learn.