The EDU487 gang conducted a mini-professional development session on July 9th (2008). Working in small teams, we helped each other learn the basics of several technology tools that could be useful for our upcoming Get Real Science Summer Camp. The tools included:
- Blogs and Wiki’s
- Garmin GPS Units
- Google Earth
- Keynote Software (for Macs)
- Palm Pilots
I fould the session to be fun and very helpful. Learning any technology tool is an investment of time and energy; sometimes it is difficult to choose which “portfolio” of tool(s) in which to invest. By working with peers who have similar goals, we were able to come up the learning curve with each tool very quickly, and assess its fit with our educational goals. A big PLUS for the experience!
The only ARROW I have is a ‘rubber’ one. I sensed that many of us felt pressured to explain/demonstrate and guide inquiry with our assigned tool effectively within the allotted time of 20-30 minutes. There is no way around time pressure in a semester course like EDU487 that is compressed into 5 weeks – this is the reason the arrow is made of rubber. Still, it’s worth mentioning the time pressure if for no other reason than to acknowledge it. We all need to keep the compressed nature of the course and the assignments in mind and strive for excellence instead of perfection.
Hi Donna,
This is a really good point. I am SUCH a perfectionist, and I have a hard time with letting things just be ‘good enough’. I don’t want to let anyone, including myself, down. At the same time, I think I am headed for a quick burn out if I don’t learn to relax my standards a little bit, so I am working on relaxing my standards and my judgments of myself a little without sacrificing too much in terms of quality. And all the little imperfections that come up along the way? Why, more fodder more reflection (and thus blog posts) of course!
Suzanne
I learned a lot from the presentations. I also learned from preparing the presentation and trying to present a lot of information in a limited amount of time. I really enjoyed the more interactive nature of what your group did and wish there had been a bit more of that in our group’s presentation.
I suspect that this balance will be revisited frequently as I try to balance inquiry and content as a science teacher.
Donna,
I agree with all that you have said. It is great to work with others that have similars goals. I think this creates a better project that is focused towards our educational goals.
The inquriy comment is interesting. I think that we did feel pressured to use inquiry as part of out
presentations. Yet we were not given enough time to effectively add good inquiry tasks, 20 to 30 minutes is just not quite enough.
I like your insight on the mini-professional development, especially since you have the benefit of prior teaching experience. By the way your ‘rubber’ arrow is very creative and reflects your comment nicely.
Andrea
hear hear!