I think that it is important to understand that there are differences in generations and the longer you teach, the more you will see of it. Not only is it important for understanding your class, but also your co-workers. I don't think that the entire instruction should be redesigned to accommodate different generations. I think that instruction should be adjusted to accommodate the individual needs of students every year. No two classes will be the same. What worked for lasts year's class might not necessarily work for this year's class or next year's class. Adjustments should always be made. What works at the beginning of the year might not work three months later. I think Reeves (2008), puts it well when he says, "Instead of worrying about whether Boomers,
GenXers or Millennials will learn more from direct instruction or virtual reality games, instructional
designers and educational technology researchers working closely with practitioners and subject
matter experts should begin by identifying the needs of any given set of learners, design the best
possible prototype learning environments in situ, and then conduct iterative cycles of formative
evaluation and refinement to optimize the solution and reveal robust design principles"(p.21).
There may not be any evidence that this "Net-generation's" brain processes information differently, but it is important to get to know your current students. Maybe their interests are video games. Maybe they're sports or ranching. You can still help students learn best when you meet their interests and keep them engaged. With the use of technology, you can make your instruction more engaging. If students are able to create something instead of take a paper-and-pencil test, they will be more motivated to learn. It is my belief that this newest generation still needs engaging, interesting instruction that caters to the learners' specific needs.
Reeves, T.C. (2008). Do generational differences matter in instructional design? Online discussion presentation to Instructional Technology Forum from January 22-25, 2008 at http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper104/ReevesITForumJan08.pdf
I agree with your post. You need to teach each class differently. No two classes will ever be the same. Some of the same material and teaching styles might work and be the same but the overall structure will change. As teachers, we need to be teaching students in ways that motivate and engage them to learn and succeed. We need to be helping our students prepare for the real world. I definitely think students prefer things to be much more hands on which is how I prefer to learn. I definitely think differentiation works wonders with students! It allows them to learn the material the best way that works for them. Our students need to be engaged. If they are not engaged then they are not learning or succeeding.
ReplyDeleteGreat point about differentiation! That is so important. Technology can also help when differentiating lessons. Students can be creating something, watching a flipped lesson, etc. while you are working with another group.
DeleteI liked what you said about understanding our co-workers. As closely as we work with students, we must remember that we work closely with our team members. Some of which were born in a different generation that ourselves. I know my school has a mixture of ages, but sometimes when we have technology discussions, the older educators get frustrated and break down when being asked to use a new tool. While I can't understand it because I'm open to trying new things. I've only been in the profession for five years. My teaching style hasn't been solidified, where they've been at it for 20+ years. I need to remember to be patient with my fellow educators.
ReplyDeleteI have a similar make up at my school as well. There are many generations. We work as teams during planning. In my second grade team, there's me, 25, Ronda, 32, and Jean, 58. We are very spaced apart in age and teaching experience. I am only going into my third year of teaching. We are all very open-minded and share resources with each other. I am the most tech-savvy out of the group, so I show them different things that I do on the iPads. And I learn so much from them. Even though we all work well together, that doesn't mean that the rest of the school is as open-minded when it comes to technology.
DeleteWe have "Tech 'n 20" meetings on Friday mornings and only a few teachers come to learn about something new involving technology. There are still a bunch of teachers that are resistance to technology.
I think that is a really good point as well. I have a teammate, we work very closely together, who absolutely refuses to use technology in her classroom. Her resistance has lessened only slightly in the last three years. We have to be cognizant of that as we integrate tech in our middle school (there are only 4 of us!) and remember to go slow when the technology affects her.
DeleteI really like how you mention how we need to find out about our student's interests in order to find ways to engage them. I have yet to have a classroom full of students who completely share the same interests. You take this further when you mention on differing needs among learners. I completely agree with you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian. Someone mentioned in another post the importance of differentiating instruction. I think this is vital to meeting the needs of the different students. I also think that technology can be a huge help in differentiating lessons.
DeleteI like how you talk about the importance of understanding that there are differences in generations with your students over the years but also with co-workers. We focus so much on students that at times we need to take a look at who we are collaborating with. In my district, there are many teachers that I teach with that were my teachers in school. It is important that we collaborate and find what works best for our students.
ReplyDeleteI agree that collaboration is so important. The other two second grade teachers that I teach with are completely different than me. We know how to stay open-minded and respect each other. We really compliment each other nicely and our team works so well.
DeleteAt our school, there is such a mix of ages. There are a lot of teachers that are nearing retirement, and then there are a lot of newer teachers. I think it is important that everyone is able to work together smoothly.
Hi Amy, I think everyone above has said what I would say but I want to echo them too. I like that you acknowledged the lack of evidence as a way to actually lead into your point that it is important to know your students. As a teacher in a smaller school, who teaches the same class most of the day, that is relatively easy for me. I do see that for some High School teachers inn huge schools, it is hard to get to know teenagers who you might only see once or twice a week. I totally agree with you but wondered if you had come across good practice of how to engage and get to know students better? Some teachers are amazing at it and others less so. I don't know if I really understand why. Is it just personality or interest or confidence? Anway, good take thanks.
ReplyDeleteI am an elementary teacher, so it is a lot easier for me to get to know my students. I completely understand how it would be much harder for teachers who do not have the same students all day or each day. I did eight weeks of student teaching in a music classroom. I had 400 different students to teach. I couldn't remember everyone's names.
DeleteI think that personality has a lot to do with engaging students and getting them to open up to you. I think that you need to take the time to talk to students in the hall, at duty, or anywhere that you see them. At the same time, you need to be approachable to the students. They need to feel like they can come up to you and just chat.
You could use interest surveys to find out what they really like. Give them choices about what they want to write about or study. This gives a lot of insight to their interests.
When I was a freshman in high school, my English teacher had us go through magazine and cut out pictures of things we like to put them on the front of our portfolio binder. This way, she could see things that we were interested in.
These are just a few ideas that I can think of. Hope it helps!
surveys are a great, quick way to get to know your students. In the case of technology, a Google Form on your website could be your first nights' homework assignment.
DeleteOoh, that's a really good idea!
DeleteI'm going back through week 5 as MKB has asked us to do, and reading through your post and comments. I think your post was the most identical to mine, although many of us seemed to think similarly. In response to Lori Jenkins suggestion, you can also use a survey to discover who has access to the internet. I wrote about that on my poll entry this week.
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