Blog in Prague
I arrived last night in Prague and my wife's grandparents wanted me to keep a journal of my experiences there. I told them that I didn't journal but I had blog to which Jim (my wife's grandfather) replied, "So you're going to Blog in Prague."
I left Denver on a Boeing 777 which is a beautiful plane, and by far the biggest plane I have ever flown on. I landed in London the next day and spent an hour running around the semi confusing Heathrow airport. I had to take a bus from the terminal I landed at (Terminal 5) to my connection terminal (Terminal 3). I was amazed to find myself riding this bus as it traveled around the tarmac, crossing right in front of dozens of 777s, 747s, and even a couple A380s. I had never seen these planes before, much less up close. I felt like I was on some sort of bus tour, riding around seeing these amazing modern marvels of aviation. After I got to my plane we made a quick 2 hour flight to Prague.
While flying the second leg of my journey (somewhere in between consciousness and unconsciousness due to my radical time zone change) I was thinking about the kind of information and knowledge I needed to make the trip from Denver to Prague by myself. There were particular tasks I had to complete such as, finding my flight. When I searched for my flight I took many things into account such as, what time the flight left, how many connections I would have to make, the overall time of the flight, and if one of Microsofts busses would be making a trip to the hotel when I landed in Prague. Truly I had to utilize problem solving skills (critical thinking skills), but I also had to rely on past experiences when it comes to buying and booking tickets online (such as how to sort results so I best understand what my options are).
No one taught me how to buy airplane tickets, and in fact I taught myself when I was younger by making shorter plane trips back to Forth Worth, TX to see family. I had experience searching for content online and I had experience sorting and filtering information. These two skills played an integral role in me being able to filter through the multiple travel sites available to us.
Ultimately there are three things we must realize as educators and how people learn from my experience.
1. I learned because I had a real situation in which I had to solve a problem.
2. No one held my hand while I solved this problem, although I knew what resources I had available to me if I needed help.
3. I knew how to filter information on the internet based on what I needed.
When you go plan your next instructional lesson, decide if your lesson:
1. Has real meaning to students (do they know why they're doing your lesson?).
2. Let students struggle and solve (don't give them too much information but help them utilize resources around them such as their peers or the internet).
3. Teach students how to search for and utilize internet search filters.
If you can teach our kids how to make the internet serve them, you'll have taught them more than memorization of some historical dates.
I'm off to a meeting this morning with some of the most brilliant educators around today and I'm honored. Its cloud and overcast in Prague which I found is to be expected. I see these old beautiful buildings and I count myself blessed to be here today. Ultimately however, I hope these experiences lead to actual change. I'm tired of conversations about innovation and what we "should do" in education. With my fellow "educational rebels" it's time to go to action.
I left Denver on a Boeing 777 which is a beautiful plane, and by far the biggest plane I have ever flown on. I landed in London the next day and spent an hour running around the semi confusing Heathrow airport. I had to take a bus from the terminal I landed at (Terminal 5) to my connection terminal (Terminal 3). I was amazed to find myself riding this bus as it traveled around the tarmac, crossing right in front of dozens of 777s, 747s, and even a couple A380s. I had never seen these planes before, much less up close. I felt like I was on some sort of bus tour, riding around seeing these amazing modern marvels of aviation. After I got to my plane we made a quick 2 hour flight to Prague.
While flying the second leg of my journey (somewhere in between consciousness and unconsciousness due to my radical time zone change) I was thinking about the kind of information and knowledge I needed to make the trip from Denver to Prague by myself. There were particular tasks I had to complete such as, finding my flight. When I searched for my flight I took many things into account such as, what time the flight left, how many connections I would have to make, the overall time of the flight, and if one of Microsofts busses would be making a trip to the hotel when I landed in Prague. Truly I had to utilize problem solving skills (critical thinking skills), but I also had to rely on past experiences when it comes to buying and booking tickets online (such as how to sort results so I best understand what my options are).
No one taught me how to buy airplane tickets, and in fact I taught myself when I was younger by making shorter plane trips back to Forth Worth, TX to see family. I had experience searching for content online and I had experience sorting and filtering information. These two skills played an integral role in me being able to filter through the multiple travel sites available to us.
Ultimately there are three things we must realize as educators and how people learn from my experience.
1. I learned because I had a real situation in which I had to solve a problem.
2. No one held my hand while I solved this problem, although I knew what resources I had available to me if I needed help.
3. I knew how to filter information on the internet based on what I needed.
When you go plan your next instructional lesson, decide if your lesson:
1. Has real meaning to students (do they know why they're doing your lesson?).
2. Let students struggle and solve (don't give them too much information but help them utilize resources around them such as their peers or the internet).
3. Teach students how to search for and utilize internet search filters.
If you can teach our kids how to make the internet serve them, you'll have taught them more than memorization of some historical dates.
I'm off to a meeting this morning with some of the most brilliant educators around today and I'm honored. Its cloud and overcast in Prague which I found is to be expected. I see these old beautiful buildings and I count myself blessed to be here today. Ultimately however, I hope these experiences lead to actual change. I'm tired of conversations about innovation and what we "should do" in education. With my fellow "educational rebels" it's time to go to action.
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