Common Core, Is it realistic?

Common Core:http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/05/4312711/common-core-state-standards-require.html

When some huge decisions are to reach a common point, arguments will brew. Undoubtedly, the recently published common core is definitely one of the hottest topics for the public to discuss.

The main argument is that is the common core realistic. Supporters in South California say that common core provides students with an opportunity to make a parallel comparison with students in others states and also students can transfer schools to to others students more easily. Opponents argue that it is too expensive to implement the new common core in introducing technology into classroom. 

From my understanding, common core is realistic. Implementing technology in classroom teaching does not mean it is required to install the latest and most eye-catching technology. The point here is not about how fancy the technology should be, but on how to take the advantage of technology in facilitating education. If it is this common understanding that we are holding, common core will be realistic and beneficial.

Sun's Third Reflection Who benefits from Technology in the Classroom!

Q:

    Do you think that the integration of technology is really a racket to make money for business?Does movements to use more technology in classrooms have our students' best interests in mind?

A:

    It is no bout that technology has become an indispensible part of our lives. And I could not imagine what life will be like without technology. I believe it is an irreversible trend that technology will penetrate in every possible walks of life. And I tend to agree that the integration of technology does serve as a rocket to make money for business. As we can see, almost all the classrooms are computerized or digitalized at OU, not to mention that there are thousands of schools in the U.S. and there are millions of schools around the world. Moreover, there are so much research done to prove that the benefit of embedding technology into teaching. Therefore, whether a school is taking advantage of technology has become a criteria to judge the school's quality. Under such a spur, no school wants to take the risk of being left behind. However, whether these producers take students'  benifit into the first place while inventing a new tech, we can not tell. But at least, these producers will not invent something stupid to cut off their money sources.

     As a L2 teacher, I do feel that technology faciliate teaching efficiency to a large extent. Nevertheless, it seems teachers are so controlled by technology that once they come across some situations such as black-out, they have no idea have to carry on their teaching. At least, I feel that way. One of the points stood out to me in this article is that "Many would-be educational innovators treat technology as an end-all and be-all, making no effort to figure out how to integrate it into the classroom."  In fact, it is the essence of the problem that people tend to use blindly withou thinking how to make technology best for teaching. We are on a long way to figure that out. 

Sun's Second Reflection

Q:  

    What do you need to work on? Part of becoming a better technology using teaching is doing a self assessment of your skills..  what are some areas that you need to work on to make more meaningful use of technology in your job.  If you are not sure how to answer this.. ask your coworkers or fellow students - they might be able to tell you..Make sure to tell me, why it limits you, or your teaching..

A:

    Technology is definitely one of the sweet-bitter human inventions in the world. Sweet is because it has changed our life so drastically. Just by pressing the buttons we can converse with the people millions miles away; Just by pressing the buttons we can see the latest news happened around the world; Just by pressing the buttons we can purchase anything we want. How magical the technology is. What is more important, the change that the technology brings to us is way beyond our expectation, and it will continue to change our life in a substantial better way. Bitter is due to its side-effects it has had on people. More and more people are turning to couch-potatoes; More and more people cast the books away by killing time online; More and more people tend to think their lives are living without the technology. It seems we are technologically confined. 

       As a teacher with three years' teaching experience, I have to confess that I have a hate and love affection towards technology as well.  Loving it is because technology opens a brand-new door in the realm of modern education. Technology inspires us and motivates us to break the traditional methodology by incorporating both technological skills and  products into teaching. That is why I would like to use computer-assisted classroom to carry out my instruction, for the sake of the diversity that the computers offer. What is more, I love it is because technology can surpass the limitations of time and space. For example, via Skype, I can teach American kids Mandarin wherever I am. Hating it is due to the fact that there are numerous new technology emerging now and then, which put teachers in a dilemma. Which technology is better for classroom instruction; which technology may have some side-effects on students; which technology is definitely harmful to students; etc. Moreover, as teaching is more technologicalized, teachers are under huge pressure too, such as curriculum redesign, textbook adaptation, technology evaluation, and so on concerning applying technology into teaching. It seems technology is a burden to teachers.

       As to the question, what do i need to work on? I believe I should try to be more innovative and observant. Nowadays, what we lack is not about the ideas of creating new fancy stuff, but truly what we are lacking of is  the way how to put the new technology into application, and how to invent more educationally orientated technology to assist education. Therefore, as a teaching not majored in science, what i can do now is to take the advantage of the current technology and try to blend it into my foreign language teaching. In addition to that, I must do more cross-discipline classroom observations and learn from teachers in different disciplines. Last but least, teaching evaluation. Not only should I do evaluation by myself, but also I should invite other teachers to observe and evaluate my class. In this way, I will learning  he shortcomings that i might not be able to notice by myself.

Changes we should know as a teacher

1. we may complain that why the student just can not get it, it is so simple and easy. Well, in that case, try to learn something new, and you will understand why. Sometimes we just need to put ourselves into others' shoes.

2. It is obvious that it is an epoch dominated by technology, a generation with virtual connections. Therefore, as a teacher in such an ongoing generation, we should accept it and take advantage of it rather than refuse it. In other words, we should have a change of our mind towards the upcoming new things, be open-minded.

3. If education is analogized to market, then a good market should be customer orientated. In the same way, a good education should be more student-centered, more adapted to students.

4. Always try to explore some new technology for assisting instruction.

5. Stop routinize your teaching philosophy, coz it is a world with changing generations. 

Sun's First Reflection

Q: 

        what is something in your practice that needs to change. Is there something that we did or read that sparked something in you..  and made you think - I could be doing something different that would make me more effective in my job, my life, or my role as a student? Share a little insight about what sparked your interest and share any brainstorming or insights you might be grappling with about how technology is used in learning or for productivity and administrative tasks. 

A:

         What interests me is the idea that nowadays students are fundamentally different from their predecessors in terms of thinking and information processing. Therefore, teachers as "digital immigrants" have to adapt themselves to the new generation's language even if we may speak with "accent". As noted it is unlikely for the "digital natives" to go backward, so teachers should reconsider both their methodology and teaching content in a digitalized way for providing "digital natives" with a better education.   

         Also, as a generation instructed in a traditional way, we complain about the digital generation's short attention span. None the less, have we ever tried to find a reason for that except for justifying for our complaint? Have you ever thought maybe it is because of your tedious old-fashioned teaching approach which drifts students' mind away. Have you ever considered to introduce the Digital Game Based Learning to your teaching? Maybe or maybe not, nevertheless, the fact is that practice makes learning work, and Digital Game Based Learning is an effective proved alternative way of practice as to digital natives. As a teacher, we should keep up with the upwarding generation to strive breaking the isolation between teachers and learners. At least, we can start incorporating INTERNET into our teaching, since it is such an innovative way of making connection possible in any corner of the world. 

         However, it may sound a little ironic. When teachers are suggested to make a renovation of their teaching philosophy, even are blamed for keeping the traditional teaching style, it seems we have forgotten that teachers are teachers, they are not hi-tech masters or program designers. Definitely, teachers know the importance of adopting technology into teaching; Of course, teachers know that interestingness of the Digital Game Based Learning. At least, it is the case to me, a person with three years' teaching experience, born and raised up in technology prevailing era; it is for sure for me to understand the advantages of using hi-tech to support instruction. But the point is that changing is not simply about changing; it is not a wrong spelled word that could be easily erased and respell it correctly. Educational changing involves so many aspects, course design, software design, activity design, textbook design, just to name a few. In effect, it is not a task could be done by a single teacher, but by the cooperation of many disciplines. 

        As a teacher, I can make a change for a day, I can make a change for a week, but i can not make a change for a long run. Changing is always easy to say hard to do, right? Therefore, stopping criticizing the current teaching situation but make some substantial contribution to our education. 

C'est Moi, Sun.

Hi there, this is Peijian Sun. Currently, I am studying at University of Oklahoma as an exchange student for the 2011/2012 academic year. Over the last semester, not only did I endeavor to gain a high achievement in my academic study, but also I joined a club called “Christians on Campus”, which helped me get a more sound image of Americans. It is also because of this club that I have learned how to communicate with Americans, how to manage my study and life. During the winter break, I took three weeks to have a self-planned tour at both the east coast and west coast. It was an awesome trip, which taught me the importance of team-work and pre-planning. 

Back to my professional study, I a full-time master student majoring in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages at Minzu University of China. Over the past 2010/2011 academic year, I received the systematical training on how to be a qualified Mandarin teacher. And the courses offered by my university range from the most theoretical levels to the very practical ones. After one year’s intensive study, I gained almost all the required credits. In order to further strengthen my professional skills and English proficiency, I applied for the exchange program and ended up studying in University of Oklahoma. All the graduate level courses that I was and am taking are in regard with education and linguistics, which provide me with an utter most valuable opportunity of gaining the very best understanding of what education is about.

Regarding my working experience, I have had 3 years of empirical teaching at Zhejiang Shinyway Languages Institute, involving Listening, Speaking, Writing and American History courses. I also have had some experience in tutoring some foreigners Chinese, since Shinyway has a mandarin center. Moreover, I was recruited by Associated Colleges in China (ACC) last summer as a mandarin teacher, responding for teaching and tutoring American students Chinese. In my undergraduate and graduate college years, I served as a class head, department manager, and vice-president in the Student Union.

This is something about me, a man born and raised in China, now studying at OU.