Flipping the Classroom, is everybody on board?

 

 

 

               Did you know, the Internet's genesis can be dated back as far as 1958? We've had since then to improve it's capabilities and broaden it's function. It's only recently that we've been able to tap into the Internet's true potential, especially as a teaching tool. Though as with all change, it has been met with some resisitance. Results are looking are positive, through feedback from students and results from grades.

               So where does this resistance stem from... those who are still a part of the "read & rememeber, write & recite"  age of learning. There are still some that have not yet adapted to the technology of the 21st Century, and they don't mean to. So I ask you, will
"Flipping the classroom" eventually be the standard for learning once some of the "old school" move on?

 

 

 

 



Writing in a group... What works, what doesn't

             So in some of my other blogs about my "DOC1" assignment, I talk about how writing a paper in a group was very difficult for me at first. I just wanted to talk about what I thought worked well for my team, and what didn't work well.
             Once writing a paper was assigned for a group of people, the first logical thing to do would be to first get everyone on the same page on what we want to talk about, and what jobs we would divide amoungst ourselves. Our paper had a stipulation of having 1000 words, and so one could automatically assume that between four people we would split up the document to 250 words each. But bringing together four seperate opinions about one subject is no easy task, especially if you do not commincate successfully with your team. If all four people write seperatly, with no common central idea or organization, the paper will not be graded well.
             Things that might help a group with this situation would be to first as a group, find and write at least 3 credible resources that support the main idea that was agreed upon. Then, decide who will do what by a certain time (preferably before the first draft is due). After the writing phase is complete then begins the editing and revisement phases. Thats when you and your team can make sure you've covered all points assigned and confirm that the paper is written in the correct format with no grammatical errors. Following this order or organizational pattern would've made my group work better together.

Final Thoughts on "DOC1"

       

  Some of the information that I learned about keeping a professional image, I will remember forever. It was really interesting to think about how potential employers do background checks online using google and facebook, and if there is anything distasteful with my name or picture next to it, it could affect my professional career.
         As for woking together in a group, I learned that connecting four different ideas into one can prove to be difficult. It isn't impossible, and I believe my teams paper was pretty good . We ended up with an "A", so it couldn't have been that bad.

Flipping the Classroom

           In the "flipped classroom", one of the coolest advantages is that the instructor can modify a class lesson just before the class. The teacher is able to do this because they are using assessments to gauge what students are grasping. After getting the results from said assessments, an intsructor can adjust the class lecture to cover material that students might not have completely understood. This is some really important feedback, and one could deduce that a teacher who uses a flipped classroom technique is more concerned with what their students are actually absorbing than a teacher that lectures and says "you either get it, or you don't". For me, I am intrigued with this teaching technique and I'm thankful that my English professor is using this teaching model.

"Doc1" Revisited

 

         So after having one group of classmates read and grade my teams paper on professional online identities, I feel very confident. We can write a good paper. Even though there were no comments or suggestions on how to make it a better paper we still got a "B" from the other group. And yet again, after another group read and graded our paper we recieved a "B" without any comments on how to improve. I still feel like the paper is well written, and I am eagerly awaiting Dr. Hamon's grade and criticism.
         Other than learning the challenges of working with a group, I feel I got a lot of knowledge about creating and maintaining a professional online identity. Now as I go through my life, building my career; I will remember what I learned and will maintain an online image that is not only professional but insightful. Thank you Dr. Hamon.

The "Flipped Classroom Technique", What works... What doesn't?...

          The "Flipped Classroom Technique" is pretty awesome in my opinion. This is when an instructor has students watch podcasts and other online materials before going to class and assessing strengths and weaknesses in said material and tailors the instruction to what is needed rather than pure lecture. Not only that, but this teaching model gives students the chance to do, what would have been homework, in class. So if you were doing your homework and you had a question, the teacher is right there.
          I love everything about this teaching model and have no doubts in its effectiveness, but I will say that for those who aren't very self motivated this can be a difficult way to make sure what needs to get done does get done.

"Doc1"... What have I learned so far?

   

          For those of you that don't know, I am currently in an English class at South University. Recently we began our "Doc1" assignment and were put in groups to write "1" paper. This paper was to be on the importance and necessity of building and mainting a professional online identity.
          I feel that I learned a lot from just writing the draft for this assignment. There were a lot of things about using the internet that I hadn't ever given much thought about. Information pertaining to employers checking potential candidates online using tools like google was particularly illuminating for me. But what I hadn't considered would be something I'd learn, was the difficulty of working with others to come up with one cohesive paper. Even in the brainstorming and division of responsibilities, I felt that I might've had less work if I didn't have to go through the channels of communication with three other people. And that is not to disrespect my other teammates at all, each of them put in the work and brought something useful to the metaphysical "table", but organizing four peoples thoughts and ideas about one subject and creating a coherent paper with a clear main point and sub points was difficult for me. That's what I thought was most intriguing about writing Doc1.

First assignment... "Doc1"

              So in my English class, after talking about what a professional online identity was and why it was important, my professor assigned our first class project... "Doc1"! DA, DA, DAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

              All students are to get into groups of about 3 or 4 people each, and collectively write one paper about why we should make sure to have a professional online identity. The paper has to be at least 1000 word and include APA6 fromating. For me, I feel pretty good about a writing a paper. I just completed Public Speaking with an 96% (A) and worked hard on the whole APA6 formating, as well as building an outline with credible sources. Should be a cinch. See you on the flip side of this assignment. For now, the building begins...

Professional Online Identity

              Sooooo, what I do online can have an effect on my career and professional relationships...? Then what kind of online identity have I made for myself thus far? I'm almost too scared to look, but I now know that I must.

             Luckily, all I found on my self was my relatively new Facebook page. After having done research on the importance of maintaining a professional online identity and found out that not only does having a negative online identity hurt your personal and professional endeavors, but having a lack of an online presence can equally hurt your professional development. This, in my case, was true since up until recently had not even cared to join the online networking culture that is today in our world. So what to do now? Online blogs and posts pertaining to my personal career choice to show potential employers my involvement in my field of study. Deletion of any online material with a negative connotation about myself in it. And that's just some of the basic things that can help keep an online identity secure and keep you in control of what other people can see about you online.

Writing to Learn...

            I expect, that all throughout school here at South University, I will have a lot of writing to do. Sometimes I'll be writing to Inform, sometimes to persuade. Though no matter which style of writing I have to do, it will almost always starts with me "writing to learn".

          "Writing to learn" describes the instructional strategy in which writing is coordinated with the learning of content and development of cognitive skills such as critical thinking rather than simply with editorial skills.
          
           So unless I already know so much about a subject that I don't need to do any research, I would still want to do research to have credible information and end up up learning something new in the process. So I would still be writing to learn. Whoa...

My first post...

Hello everyone,

     My name is James Burgos, and as some of you know I am a student at South Univeristy. I just wanted to do this first post so you can get to know me a little... and because I needed to make this first post for Dr. Hamon's English class.
     I was born in New York City 1986 and lived in Brooklyn for my first 5 years of life. In the summer of 1991 I moved to Florida and have lived here ever since; so essentially, I'm Floridian. There have since been many events that have determined my course of action in life. All of which have brought me here (South University). I, for the past 10 years, have been teaching Martial Arts in Boynton Beach Florida. The pay was ok, but nothing compared to someone with a professional degree. Since my current job description includes building motor skills and muscles associated as well as flexibility and range of motion, I figured Physical Therapy Assisting (PTA) was right down my alley as far as a professional program. So that's where I am now... I hope this was at least slighly interesting.