I had a former student come by and tell me today that she wished she could come back and take my class again, because it seemed so much cooler now than it did when she took it.
And she's right. It is a way better class than when she took it. My first year at this school, I taught Desktop Publishing with a little "How to Make a Good Powerpoint" and a little "Advertising 101." This semester, Desktop Publishing includes sections on coding (block and html, if the kids want to get into that), graphic design/layout, Photoshop, making good slideshows across several platforms, manipulating all of the Google Drive suite of apps, movie making, website building, and creating a huge portfolio of their work. Then, they leverage these skills in bids for real-world projects, like an online literary magazine or a newsletter template for another school.
It's important to iterate our classes, and it's important to learn to teach in more varied and effective ways. Sometimes, though, we lose sight of the real-world application of that idea. Iteration isn't just another one of those buzzwords we should hear and let float through on the ether.
Real iteration is taking a class that was about how to make a calendar in MS Publisher when I was hired here and turning it into a Real-World Digital Skills Wonderland. It's about making the class more useful for everyone, and giving students skills they can use across the curriculum and after they leave my class. And it's about modeling the hidden curriculum in my class for my students; it's about always looking for ways to improve.
And she's right. It is a way better class than when she took it. My first year at this school, I taught Desktop Publishing with a little "How to Make a Good Powerpoint" and a little "Advertising 101." This semester, Desktop Publishing includes sections on coding (block and html, if the kids want to get into that), graphic design/layout, Photoshop, making good slideshows across several platforms, manipulating all of the Google Drive suite of apps, movie making, website building, and creating a huge portfolio of their work. Then, they leverage these skills in bids for real-world projects, like an online literary magazine or a newsletter template for another school.
It's important to iterate our classes, and it's important to learn to teach in more varied and effective ways. Sometimes, though, we lose sight of the real-world application of that idea. Iteration isn't just another one of those buzzwords we should hear and let float through on the ether.
Real iteration is taking a class that was about how to make a calendar in MS Publisher when I was hired here and turning it into a Real-World Digital Skills Wonderland. It's about making the class more useful for everyone, and giving students skills they can use across the curriculum and after they leave my class. And it's about modeling the hidden curriculum in my class for my students; it's about always looking for ways to improve.
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