Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Looking Glass

Long ago, well before my time, people referred to a mirror as a looking glass.  At least that's my impression of it largely based on literature and contemporary media.  Being the reflective, introspective person that I am, I apply this to Google Glass in the form of an 11 year old daughter stealing it from me and filming me while I present a lesson on using Garageband to the SOAR Charter School students.


This is a great way to see things through the eyes of your students.  I've only included a short clip; I felt as though the full 9 minutes was a great way for me to reflect, but you'd get the gist of it in a fraction of the time.  At one point in the full video I go sideways.  I'm told it was so my head would no longer get cut off in the video, but I think she got bored and started to fall asleep.

There was an article I read online about Google Glass in schools.  I thought about this when I watched my video.  The article addressed the concerns and potential issues of Glass in the classroom because it suddenly made education transparent.  I agree with the author that education is becoming more transparent.  After all, what are all the standardized tests for if not to determine effectiveness, progress and productivity in public education?  I discussed this with another educator and we agreed that there's a good chance some of the things said or done could be taken out of context and viewed as negative when, in reality, the statements or actions were innocent or innocuous.

Interesting line of thought.  We also agreed that the transparency shouldn't be something to be feared but rather accepted.  After all, if an administrator or community member walked into your room you wouldn't (or shouldn't) want to change what you're doing.  This may very well be a window into the future of what education is going to become.  Unfortunately, this puts a lot of stress on a teacher.  Good or bad?  Too early to decide, but definitely worth discussing and thinking about.

On the other side, it's also a potential window into the structure and dynamics of the classroom.  How do the students interact?  At what point are they engaged in the lesson?  Are there behavior issues?  Once again, more discussion.  Maybe even some trial runs to reflect on.

This 9 minute look into my own teaching style, the way I interact and how the students literally view me leads me to reflection and maybe even alteration.

When I finally got my Glass back (wasn't easy) I took a break, visited the other classroom and got to meet my first fat-tailed leopard gecko.  It didn't try to sell me insurance.



Stay tuned for more information and discussion about my grand idea to work with SOAR staff members to hit Google up for an entire class set (45) of Glass to really try it out with the charter school.

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