Blog spotting: A review of a Teaching Blog

A blog that has really caught my interest is one called 'Joyful Collapse' by Mindy Keller. Mindy's full blog can be accessed through the link: http://joyfulcollapse.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2014-11-04T09:48:00-05:00&max-results=7

Mindy Keller is a high school English teacher and being that English is my specialized subject, I instantly engaged with the content of this blog. 'Joyful Collapse' offers information on pedagogical approaches and helps teachers in determining best practices for reaching today's adolescents. Mindy has even written a book, 'Transparent Teaching for Adolescents,'which would be interesting to read, especially after reading the discussions on her blog so far. 

One blog post that I found particularly interesting to read was: 'Want to effectively integrate technology? Make it invisible.'This blog encourages the use of technology in the classroom,

however, Keller does not believe that it should be the main focus of the lesson. Here is a statement from the blog, which has had an effect on the way I think when trying to integrate technology in my lessons:

We don’t want the tool to be the focus, nor do we want the tool to drive the learning. Rather, the goal is to put the learning first and allow the use of the tool to be so seamless, so natural, so smooth as a means to reach the objective, that it is…invisible.

The word 'invisible' does not mean technology is not there, it means that it does not cloud

 the visibility of what the teaching is try to say. Keller argues that the objective 

of a lesson is what the focus should be around. Technology can frame the lesson and give 

these objectives strength, but the more natural and seamless it is weaved into the lesson

 the better. 

Helpfully, Keller has added a list of ways that can be used to make technology feel 'invisible:'

1. Ask big questions. What kinds of questions do you want kids to be

 thinking about as they move into the lesson/unit? Generally, the use of 

clearly relevant how, why, or what if questions tend to stimulate

 more thought.

2. Based on those questions and your state standards, create learning 

objectives. 

What should the student be able to do by the end of this lesson unit? 

3.  Determine what technology tools will aid the students

 in reaching those objectives. 

Even   better, offer students a choice of tools. In the examples above,

the most logical technology tools are:

-A curation tool to gather and house research (Pinterest, Symbaloo,or other)

-A word processing tool (Google docs, Word, or other) OR

-Another publishing tool (Podcast, blog, Glogster, or other)

Therefore, what this blog really instilled in me is the way that the lesson needs to remain focused 

on the objective. Integrating ICT into lessons can be incredibly enriching to the learning

experience, but the art of making it so would mean that it is 'invisible.' I do not mean that it is

not an obvious use to students, moreover that it is done in a way that fits the lesson 

strategies so seamlessly that it becomes natural. As Keller sums up in her blog post, hopefully

you will end with a response from a student that: 'We're talking about why there is still racism,'

over 'We're making a Glogster thing.'

References:
Keller, Mindy, 'Joyful Collapse,' at http://joyfulcollapse.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2014-11-04T09:48:00-05:00&max-results=7 [Accessed 4 January 2015]