I will be the first to admit that my infodiet is very imbalanced. For quite some time I have been told to read a newspaper or look up articles online so that I know what's happening in the world. As an educator I have fought this with excuses like "I don't have time to sit down and read," or "It's not interesting to me," or "I just don't want to." With this being said, understanding current events IS important for educators. I also have a hard time hearing things and sorting through important vs. not. Take what happened at Sandy Hook for instance, I was completely captivated by those horrible events, but because I don't listen to the news, I believed EVERYTHING I was told and much of the information surrounding that tragedy was incorrect on the first day. To fix this problem of hearing and passing along information that may or may not be true I used this assignment to "get in the know." I began following @CNN on Twitter. This way I'm finding out news and understanding real world issues around me and I'm not sifting through the viewpoints of others. Due to the fact that news stations are biased based on politics, I began following @FoxNews as well to get multiple viewpoints.
Politics is another topic that is crucial to education that puts me out of my comfort zone. I vote democrat based on my career and I'm not a fan of Michigan's current governor. I'm not saying I'm eager to get into any political debates but it would be nice to be able to defend myself on issues related to education. For this reason, I chose to also follow @CSPAN to keep myself updated on politics and information. Something else that can help me stay informed and give me some things to talk about and understand is the Michigan Department of Education, @mieducation. I think that this is a good decision for my infodiet because I don't pay attention to things that are probably really useful pieces of information. For example, I had absolutely no idea that Common Core Standards were being questioned and put on hold in the state of Michigan. What? Why? I have been working so hard to understand them and teach them and gain success for my students with these standards and now and the end of the first year...we're reconsidering. It was shocking but interesting information that I did not know because I've been too busy using my free time to figure out what's going on, on Facebook.
I also wanted to use this assignment to find out more about technology in order to take it to my students. I'm constantly worried about what I'm teaching, how I'm teaching, should I have done it this way or tried it that way, what's going to happen next year with my students, are they ready for 3rd grade, the MEAP is happening to them next year... It's always on my mind, how can I make them more prepared? I found this page on Twitter called Next Generation Learning Challenges, @NextGenLC. This page has a wealth of information that I am excited to sift through. I appreciated the research I got to do with this assignment and it helped me realize that if anything, I at least WANT to be interested.
Hi Erika,
ReplyDeleteIt is so important as a teacher to stay connected with what is happening around the world and in the education industry. I love that you mentioned you want to learn more about technology to take it back to your students. The very fact that you are curious and want to improve as a teacher shows your students the importance of learning!
~Sara
Yes, isn't it crazy that they are considering going back to the GLCEs or HSCEs? I have been following closely because of being the Project Manager of the TRIG 22i PD grant. We will be creating a hash tag soon for teachers to follow so that you know how to get your students prepared to take the Smarter Balanced Assessments or whatever they decide to go to. All I know right now, is that there will for sure be an online assessment. If you want to read more about the grant go to http://22itrig.org. click on Activities and go to Activity 3. That is the one I am in charge of. We just chose our districts today and will be listing those in the pilot!
ReplyDeleteI love your image! You should cite where you got it or if you created it, create your own Creative Commons.
I can totally relate to you about the Common Core debate! In fact, I varied my InfoDiet by adding multiple sources of information which are against the implementation of the Common Core. Like you, I use the CC daily and have been working with them for some time, so this was a surprise to me. It's been interesting to read different perspectives, and I hope that these sources continue to help me to form a well-informed opinion on educational topics.
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