Because hey, I was on "vacation"

Late blog postings, that will definitely happen with me. I become preoccupied with something else, fly off into the universe, and then come back thinking, "oh crap, I got this and this to do". All of that said, I haven't updated in awhile.

Well, since my last posting I have helped teach the Many Uses of Computers Camp. It was great to finally get an idea of whom I'll be working with in regards to students and teachers. There was an awful lot to cover, some we were not able to cover. The students probably figured this was my first time teaching, and they were good sports about it. Students were amazing, the unit coordinators were fantastic, the teachers were great, these are truths which I want to put out there right away.

Only because, when I make commentaries in the upcoming paragraphs, I'm going to talk about things I believe need some changing, or at least tweaking, and I'm rather blunt in assessments. With that disclaimer out there, away we go.

What do you still wonder about or still need to learn more about to feel 100% comfortable being assigned and tackling the role of Unit Support?

I believe in order to become comfortable as Unit Support, I have to come to classes 100 percent prepared for that day's lesson, with the idea in the back of my head that the lesson may completely unravel, and I'll have to prepare for whatever that may bring. More familiarity with the lesson plans or at the very least the general aims of that day's lesson would, on my part, be a necessity to become better at Unit Support.

What do you still wonder about or still need to learn more about to feel 100% comfortable being assigned and tackling the role of Unit Coordinator?

A lot more experience, to be completely honest. Either that, or the ability to understand the VERY GENERAL concepts of the day's lesson plan (today we need to learn the parts of the computer, how to animate using flash, etc.) and then I can tailor a lesson around that. In this case, I think there should just be a very general outline (there may already be, I believe there is) of what needs to be taught during the unit on the wiki. Examples of previous units and how they were taught are there, and I believe need to be in the same tree as that unit's page.

Any other thoughts or reflections about the system of Unit Coordinator/Support should be included.

I believe the roles of Unit Support and Coordinator are clearly stated, and are very good for teaching the classes. If anything, I believe the two unit coordinators (at least in the case of the two week camp) should work together and act as floaters between the two classes to make sure that support in real heavy exercises (such as taking apart the computers) is provided. Otherwise, it seems in those classroom spaces, three teachers in one room leads to a lot of claustrophobia.

Any thoughts/reflections/love/hate/etc. about the 3 periods system, would also be greatly appreciated.

So here comes my bluntly honest part...I'm not a fan of the three period system, at all. I like the three breaks, because I think the students need to decompress especially with the amount of content we throw at them. But the systems as it stands, to me, is overly restrictive on what the teachers can do because of the titles of these sections. For example, at least in my experience, teaching whilst the students are using the materials is a good thing...because we can lecture to them about how computers work, what the parts look like, and their uses all we want, but at least from what I observed, the students still had a very hard time identifying parts in the second hour, which is specifically reserved for "exploration". For me, what we educate the students on should constantly be reinforced by exploration. The way ITA appears to me, education and exploration are one in the same, I think. Does it all have to go away? Probably not. However, I think right now there are just too many impositions on the teachers with these titles, especially given the fact that there is so much to cover in the small periods of time.

LAST Q: I'd like to get your overall "snapshot" opinions and ideas about the Units you were a part of, the students, and the way things work around here at the ITA labs.

I think the staff and students do a remarkable job trying as best they can to do what they can to make the overall experience with ITA an enjoyable one. At the end of the sessions, I felt a real sense of accomplishment, which I hope the students share. I think that one thing that may be more helpful, in regards to the two week sessions, is to have the same teachers there the entire time. That way, those teachers are intimately familiar with how the students are interacting with the material, and the general pace of the unit so should anything not work out, they can augment the plans accordingly. I believe o make any definitive and thorough assessment, I would have to observe and teach in a few more classes.

Thanks for reading what may perhaps be the most boring blog post of your adult life. I promise the next ones may be a little more zany.

Blitz Proj. Zaniness

Today was the day that we did a blitz. Blitzing, meaning we were going to put together a short commercial (parody), write, shoot, edit, and complete a project in a little under three hours. I'm familiar with the concept from working on the 48 hour film project and WiscKino, but never before had I seen shorts made in three hours.

If anything, it was just good to see the students coming together and making a film project. I was curious to see whether or not the students would actually be able to pull it off. Not because I did not think they were capable of it, but because the task is extremely difficult for professionals, let alone students with little experience doing a task such as this one.

However, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of the students really get into the project. Not all of the students were overly excited to jump in, but a lot of this could do with the fact that the weather was not great, this was first thing in the morning, and such a demanding format as a blitz could turn off students who are either afraid or not used to failure, because unfortunately in such a high stakes concept, failure is actually rather common.

The group I worked with put together a parody video on Madison, tongue in cheek commenting on the construction and various holes in the Earth around campus as being a part of the "new and vibrant" city. Since I'm not very familiar with the students, it was hard to determine which students were more suitable for tasks (filming, writing, editing, etc.) than others. Although I feel that some of them were put into positions they were not comfortable with, they came together in the end to complete a project, which if they don't realize now, is an excellent skill to obtain, the ability to produce on time. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if they'll be willing to do a project like this in the future, although I did see some editing skills in the students that were impressive to say the least. It would be great to see some of these students at the WiscKino events, hopefully this experience will turn a few on to the idea.