SCIENCE IS BORING!!!

I was going through the TED site and I found something that might interest some of the science teachers out there.

This made me think about the idea of stories.

It was Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen and Terry Pratchett in "The Science of Discworld2" (2002) who said that the scientific name for human beings (Homo Sapien  "the wise man") is inaccurate an and really presumptive and that Pan Narran or "Story telling ape" would be a better classification. If this is true then the only reason we have the ability to do the incredible things we do is because we can tell stories. Essential our brains are machines which take in information and create stories . They might be incredibly accurate stories that explain most of the known universe, but in essence they are all stories.

This idea has connections to constructivist idea that "learners construct their own reality ... based upon their perceptions of experiences". So if students have been given a lot of jargon to learn in the past then they will tell them selves the story that they will get jargon in the future, leading them to get bored and not be engaged with the learning

So what if we think about the stories that we tell as teachers and how we tell them to students. Think about what they might have experienced before, individually and collectively, and how we can play with their expectations to create more engaging lessons

if you would like to read more about breaking expectations of your learners or audience, have a look at the blog of an incredible theatre creator Anne Bogart and her thoughts of humans being "Expectation Machines"

Who am I? (Styles of learning)

Here have a look. Now you should know exactly who I am.

Multiple Intelligence Results

I think it can be incredibly useful to understand that these areas of learning do exist and should be catered for in a wide variety of pedagogical contexts, but I'm not sure it's useful to target students and analyse them using these criteria. 

The awareness for oneself of what are your strengths and weakness can be a powerful tool for learning but if the information is used to manipulate others there can be detrimental results

I have seen examples where people have been manipulated because of category analysis that while catering for those areas in theory should be effective the result is the recipient feeling labeled. 

Be careful and recognize that each individual is different and should not be placed in a box

Digital Immigrants or Tourists

I feel like I have a slightly slipper grasp on ICT's. I know how to use most of them and I feel comfortable learning how to use them but there is always that niggling in the back of my mind if I'm using them "RIGHT"

I think this is what Prensky is refering to when he talks about a digital "accent". While I don't have as thick an accent as some of the examples that he gives I feel likes it's still there.

But is that a good or a bad thing?

I find it slightly scary the amount of information that is put on some of the social media sites, how freely it's given and how personal it can be. Am I out dated that I only have personal conversations in "personal message" form, or am I being smart and protecting myself. I think that those digital natives sometimes can't see the tiger through the digital grass.

Or am I out of date?

Is the new world  completely open and connected one, where information and ideas are becoming more and more accessible to everyone and can be cross pollinated to create new ideas and ways of doing things that could never have existed in a less connected world.

So lets call me a digital tourist. I can come in and try those things that some of the natives know about but have never tried. I can dive into their culture and enjoy everything about it but still have the critical thinking and analytically mind that can judge the experience and take away the positives and negatives.

lets have a go

Mind Map for drama

For those who want to go further into breaking down the PCKs for Drama I've created a Mind Map that anyone can contribute to and edit.

http://beta.text2mindmap.com/wSrYjM

Please add and edit where you feel it's necessary and add a comment to this page.

It Begins

And we're off.

So as a student teacher, the role of student has bowled me over once more. The feeling of a have no stable ground under neath you and the slow  sinking feeling as the weight of reading an knowledge is pilled on top of you.

but there is hope.

The Motivational Video with the rocks and pebbles has inspired me to take that metaphor into my quicksand universe.

Instead of carrying the rocks and being weighed down by them. I'm going to see how dropping some of them and standing on them, using them as support, will change how I view the work to come.

Hence the "Trial and Error" title.

Even if some of those stones start sinking the multitude of option that I will "TRY"  means that hopefully some will keep me afloat.

Here's hoping.