Godin

Godin

I'm a Resident of the Web

Currently, I’m a resident.  When I log onto the Internet I’m visible, social and networking. I used to view the Internet as an endless opportunity to explore and establish myself, with no consequences. However, as the Internet has become more prominent and widely used I have been changing my views on my residency within the web.

I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to explore different networking sites, specifically those that require a “resident” type presence, when they first opened (twitter, Facebook, foursquare, etc.). I know how to use the networks effectively and efficiently; I have had many jobs where my sole responsibility was to manage and maintain a web presence. Along with managing sites for companies and non-profits I too was creating my own personal presence on them as a way to further explore their potential. However, I have found given my career choice that my residency needs to be altered. I need to start finding a happy medium between being a resident and a visitor, lower my presence. In terms of the relevant video, I want to move out of my residency and instead start using the Internet as a tool when I come to visit.

My Passion

I have a strong commitment and dedication to the wellbeing and prosperity of children, youth and their communities. As a graduate of Political Science, I gained a deep appreciation and enthusiasm for the power of a healthy, growing community. I believe that school is the first place students begin to understand this concept and I take it as my responsibility to teach it.

Upon obtaining my Master’s of Education, Curriculum and Instruction and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, I aim to fully dedicate my time in California classrooms, and eventually seek participation in school administration. Within school administration I plan to promote policies and practices that will help improve both teaching and learning at various levels of the educational system. The policies and practices in place will be for the overall benefit of the communities in which I live.

A Whole New Mind

According to Roger W. Sperry, L-Directed thinking is reasoning sequentially, excelled analysis and handling of words. Whereas R-Directed thinking is reasoning holistically, recognizing patterns and interpreting emotions and nonverbal expressions. My subject, multiple subject, requires a little bit of both. As a multiple subject educator I have to teach students how to think in both ways and function in everyday life. To find a balance teachers have to teach to the “whole child”.

Abundance, Asia, and Automation affect the dominance of L-Directed thinking in business and schools by diminishing it in the need of the workforce. There is automatically an abundance of so many things that now those things need to be visually appealing and have more of an aesthetic touch for it to be sold/valuable. Therefore, R-Directed thinking is going to be valued more in the future.

High concept is the ability to create new ideas or things that are appealing to the eye i.e. art , emotional beauty, etc. High Touch is the ability to empathize, or understand human interaction, to find one’s self. This will impact my teaching because I will have to be a person who can appeal to those types of clients (parents and students).

IQ tests linear and sequential thinking- it is a specific type of test. It does not value R-Directed thinking. There is room for EQ in education. The book states, “…the capacity for compassion, care, and uplift- which are becoming a key component of many occupations in the Conceptual Age.”

Communities of Practice

When I think of communities of practice after reading the two articles, I think of an active community. Meaning, the members of the community are actively involved and growing their knowledge/interest together. I also think of constructivism in that we are all learning together, actively, and constructing our own knowledge within the topic of interest. Our interest, or domain, would be education. The community would be USD students, more specifically, a majority MCC One Year students. Our practice is our literal practice, student teaching.

The activities described by Etienne Wenger are all practices that we as a domain actively participate in. A few are listed below in relation to our domain as educators:

Problem solving – Do you have ideas on a better way that I can assist a particular student?

Request for information- What teaching resources did you use for PACT?

Discussing- Classroom discussions

Visits- Observing each others teaching classroom.

I like how the Jean Lave article mentions lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is something that is stressed when entering into the field of education. Teachers need to be flexible, adaptable and willing to continuously learn. Society, communities and people change, therefore teaching has to change. We have to be willing to change our understanding of how to best teach the students that enter into our classroom. One way to do this is by participating in communities of practice.

The University of San Diego does a great job of creating classrooms that promote communities of practice. Students are encouraged to participate in social interactions, not just sit and listen to lectures. This relates to what Mark Smith says, “Learning is, thus, not seen as the acquisition of knowledge by individuals so much as a process of social participation” (Smith, 2009). 

                                                                         Reference:

Smith, M. K. (2003, 2009) 'Communities of practice', the encyclopedia of informal education, 

www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm.