First, I think both the presentations and the websites are great tools to get kids involved and interested in any lesson plan or subject matter. I really think that kids would love to make a website on a topic instead of doing some sort of written book report. I'm sure everyone can agree, making a website didn't really feel like work, and when you can get students to learn while having fun, you've won the battle.
As far as the presentations are concerned, it seemed that everyone's groups provided engaging activities for their students to participate in, which again, made the time go faster, and allowed us to learn something along the way. The only thing one needs to really be aware of, on the teaching end, is organization. I could see the group work getting off task occasionally, and if this is going to happen with a handful of student teachers, you know that it will definitely be an issue in elementary or high school settings.
Lastly, a comment about our myth section in general. I personally find the term "Myth" to be problematic because myth implies or assumes "fake." Now, I'm not really a practitioner of anything presented in our myth and knowing book, but I have no doubt that there are people out there that take some of the "myths" very seriously, particularly when it comes down to some of the Native American teachings.
Basically what I think is this: One could easily lump any of the major world religions into our Myth and Knowing text. They have the same purpose (finding greater meaning in our lives) and often have the same proof or evidence to back them up (hearsay, ancient texts, but little tangible evidence). This observation is not meant to belittle the religions of the world, but to add an importance to some of the ideas presented in our readings that were labeled "Myths" and seemingly given an air of triviality because of it. Just because these ideas are not prevelant today, does not mean they should be taken lightly.
I guess I would just urge people to stress the importance of these ideas to their students when teaching these subjects. After all, who knows? In another 1000 years, people may be teaching our current world religions as myth and legend.
Hey Art,
ReplyDeleteYour idea of having primary or secondary education students create their own websites is an awesome idea! Who's to say that we shouldn't take Dr. Baxter's idea and run with it? And you're also right about creating a myth. It wasn't a chore for me; in fact, I had a lot of fun with it. I may add or subtract some things on my own website, just for fun!
I also agree with you regarding group work. We all have different ideas as to what we want to do in terms of presentation, and I think our presentation reflected our own process of agreeing to disagree, and finding a happy(?) medium.
Your comment about "a thousand years from now" holds a lot of weight with me. Sometimes I wish I could be there for it; other times I'm not so sure, but I have no control over it, regardless.
It was a pleasure to work with you,
Chuck
Art, I agree with your assessment that websites such as our myth presentation are useful tools in getting children involved in the learning process. In order to create the myth website I not only had to research as one normally must for a traditional essay but I also had to create a new myth which presented its own set of challenges. Not only does a project like the myth website give the opportunity to showcase the knowledge that a student has gained from the classroom but they are also inadvertently forced to think at a more critical and high level process. It is important for children to become actively involved in their education and an assignment that gives them opportunity to create and explore the technological tools at their disposal is an asset that must be used to its fullest potential. Furthermore, students are able to explore the internet in a new and creative way instead of just using social networking tools.
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