Rethinking Teaching

Well my friends, we have a wicked problem on our hands.

What is a wicked problem, you ask? “…wicked problems, in contrast to tame problems…have incomplete, changing and contradictory requirements. Solutions to wicked problems are often difficult to realize… because of complex interdependencies among a large number of contextually bound variables. Wicked problems, they argue, cannot be solved in a traditional linear fashion…” (Koehler & Mishra, 2008). In other words, these are problems that have no definite solution and no clear way of how it should be solved.

PLN- what is it and why should I care?

 

When I think of the qualities that I try to encourage within my students, a few things come to mind: collaborative, open-minded, and innovative. There have been countless articles that I’ve read, presentations I’ve sat through, and conversations that I’ve had where a common theme of ‘pushing children to be collaborative and innovative thinkers’ seems to always arise.

As educators, shouldn’t we also strive for the same qualities within ourselves?

Everyone’s a Maker

“…the term maker is universal and core to human identity, describing each one of us, no matter how we live our lives or what our goals might be,” (Halverson & Sheridan, 2014, p. 497).

Make it Better!

Going into my first year of the MAET program, I have to admit- I had no idea what to expect. Yes, I would undoubtedly have TONS of course work (hello, it’s a graduate program…) but other than that, I really had no expectations. So thinking back to my feelings last week when my instructors shared we would be not only learning about Maker Faires but planning and orchestrating our own…you could say I didn’t know what to think. Shocked, surprised, scared- you name it, I was probably feeling it.