How and Why Animation Could Be Used in the Classroom

As I was recently reading an article on animation in the classroom, it quickly came to my mind that I would use it for TESOL in China for an assortment of reasons. Those range from Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) to character education since students relate to animated characters. Another big point by the author included how using animation helped make behavior corrections less personal and more about deeper growth needed. This reminded me of some watching and research I have done in the past year or so as a father of three boys as part of the preparation of media they would be guided in digesting in the future.

My oldest son and I enjoy watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood together. It’s his favorite show, and I’m not ashamed to say it’s mine too. There was an evening when he was two-years-old that we sat down to watch it. As the show’s intro was happening and the characters came on to the screen, my son revealed something. When Daniel Tiger showed up, he said, “Hey Daddy, that’s me.” Soon after came Mr. Tiger, or Daddy Tiger. “And that’s you, Dad.”

Whoa.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/daniel

My son had just begun to make media-to-self and media-to-world connections. He was Daniel Tiger, and I was Daniel Tiger’s dad. It was an amazing moment where I was so proud of my son and how he was growing. I also knew that I as his father could use the connections my son had with Daniel Tiger for everyday events when necessary. (Side note: It helped that studies have already started to show that watching the show improves children’s social and emotional skills.)

Now my son and I could discuss and connect to our lives how we were feeling (similar to Daniel Tiger and his dad or mom). On top of that, around the same time as that event, my son started to do something else remarkable. Before we would watch an episode together, I’d ask him which one he wanted to view. He started to request particular episodes that 1) focused on how to manage a feeling he had felt recently, or 2) guided him in how to express himself when a certain kind of situation arose.

Mind blown…heart chuckling since I started to do the same things more often too just months after him. I began to more often imagine being Mr. Tiger, take episodes to be quite meaningful, and want to see again how he or Mrs. Tiger dealt with the experience at hand.

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When it comes to Chinese culture, stories are influential. These personalities in movies or shows favored by the students can be quite relatable. (I deeply wish there was a Chinese version of PBS!) What can teachers in China, locals and foreigners, do with animation then? Zhong (2012) stated that within Confucian tradition teachers are to assume two major charges. The first and foremost one was to teach knowledge and supply answers through the deep knowledge they have acquired. The second charge was to “cultivate people” (Jin & Cortazzi, as cited in Zhong, 2012). Teachers were to help students develop morals and to be available for pastoral care or advice on various issues. These are two of many ways to use animation while I lead toward the latter one.

A show could be viewed by a class of students once a week or every two weeks. Then the content could be actively reflected upon and applied by the teacher and students through relevant, direct practice as well as everyday situations. Of course, any music included could be really catchy while music for children has already time and time again proven to have quite the impact on children.

Who knows…maybe a teacher would start to imagine him/herself as a character in the show.

What if the students would create a show of their own and chronicle events throughout the year?

What do you think? How could animation fit into your teaching or education in general?

Improving the Flipped Classroom in China

One of the teaching methods I have applied, analyzed, and been reflecting on this school year is that of the flipped classroom. It started out as an Action Research project that I simply placed hope in since I wasn’t sure how students in a bilingual school in China would respond. What happened beforehand, during the implementation, and afterward transpired in ways that inspired me to move forward. Part of progress is moving into the unknown, and before continuing to do so I checked out some blogs and well-known sites for any tips or suggestions when employing the flipped classroom.

One idea I received was from a first-grade teacher. Her students were too young to obtain internet access in the evenings. Therefore, she thought outside the box, and she did what she referred to as the “in-class flip.” She recorded and prepared the directions and examples for a project, and then made the video (and more thereafter) available to her students in order that they could independently look back to those instead of her. This provided her as the teacher to “work with individuals and small groups to address a range of learning styles and abilities.” For more details and steps on that, check out Creative Educator, where some teachers are Flipping the Elementary Classroom.

One of several suggestions from Teach Starter was to start with one lesson to flip in an area you as the teacher feel comfortable with. I’m wondering now if that’s the best piece of advice for everyone when mulling over the start of flipping one’s classroom. When I initially tried out the method, I actually had a class do it for a complete chapter that ended up lasting about three straight weeks with at least 2-3 videos a week. The kinks for the video-watching were mostly taken care of before the chapter began, as the rest were resolved after the first class period. From there on out to the end, the students knew the expectations with the short and succinct videos within our imperfect system, and they gave it all they had. It was a few fun weeks, but I’m not sure we (the students and I) would’ve revealed all that we did with one single time of flipping. The students and I discovered quite a bit through the experience, and it wasn’t just about our content. Thus, in my opinion, I’d say “yes” to the educator who asks, “Does Flipped Learning in a Primary Classroom Really Work?” Though there are more variables and other options a teacher should consider in accordance with one’s context before taking the leap since I wonder if there could be situations where it wouldn’t be suitable.

My students shared a healthy outlook on learning in that they control their learning, and the teacher is there to guide, correct, or challenge thinking within the subject and its interconnectedness to other subjects and, ultimately, life. The flipped videos were a nice substitute for the traditional homework that the students receive daily, and they expressed their desire for the videos since the beginning for they provided foundations for the classes we met face to face. The content in the videos was starting points for learning as well, and sometimes the students even did a little independent research of their own beforehand. Ultimately, flipping the classroom has felt like a success in professional and personal ways through the year, but that doesn’t mean I should stop growing and obtaining wisdom from experts on the issue. (Hence, the two hyperlinks in this paragraph stem from Jon Bergmann.)

Jon Bergmann on "What is Flipped Learning?" on Common Sense Media

Here are some more analyses on the flipped classroom.

A Student's Turn to Flip

Mr. B's Take on the Flipped Classroom

What do you think?

Would you incorporate or have you implemented the flipped classroom? If yes, what recommendations do you have? If no, why not?

Reconsidering How To Empower Expert Learners

“Good tech integration starts with good pedagogy.”

One of my professors recently stated this, and I could not have asked for a better quote to start a course on Trends and Issues in Educational Technology when considering the mindset essential for implementing technology into education. It can be extremely easy to use tech simply to be “the most modern” or to sell the school as a product. At the same time, it is quite possible to deeply desire improvements in the infusion of technology, connections on local and global scales, and collaboration focused on moving the learning experiences forward. (♪These are a few of my favorite things…)

This is when organizations such as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) come into play and make a huge difference. They have been ongoing for over 30 years, and only in the last few recent years have I heard of them and the amazing work they have been doing. One of the many things they have provided for educators on all levels is standards for integrating technology into education. These have served to challenge, empower, and transform the use of technology. ISTE also holds major conferences every year where thousands of educators gather for a plethora of opportunities for learning as well as non-stop collaboration. ISTE is one of the several organizations I follow closely while working abroad in order to stay updated on transformative teaching, the proper integration of technology within my context, and an insane amount of resources.

More important than technology are the media utilized for learning and growth. Recently, I have been reading Teaching in a Digital Age by Dr. Tony Bates, and he takes a chapter to explain the differences between technology, media, and their intricacies. It was humbling delving into a topic like this since solely relying on my experience had me certainly confuse the meanings of the two words. In my mind, media had basically become technology and vice versa. Differentiating the two and examining the perplexity of each had me build a fresh foundation of understanding for the implementation of technology within teaching, leading, and learning.

I will confess too. I had forgotten that media is the plural form of medium, or “a means by which something is communicated or expressed” (according to my Apple dictionary). Thus, I took this revisited piece of word knowledge to the ELLs in my high school health class. The topic came up naturally since we discuss media occasionally in class. I asked the students to describe how media and technology are different. Following some proceeding thoughts, I then asked if they knew that the word media was the plural form of a word. They didn’t. It’s crucial to understand what we don’t know, and that’s what has been happening in my Master’s courses, research on technology’s place in education, and reflections/steps in improving my own teaching.

https://tinyurl.com/y8n3653n

In regards to my teaching, that same professor passed on information related to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Curriculum. This curriculum design is distinctive and includes four vital and interrelated components. While perusing the site, at least a couple things stuck out to me. Firstly, I found myself lost in the moment clicking on the hyperlinks related to my context or needs. Before I even realized what was happening, I had sought out several “Checkpoints,” or examples and resources, and tried at least one to two models within each one. I became quite absorbed on how to incorporate the resources into my teaching, but I don’t think that’s the best way of contemplating media’s place in learning. What I read in Bates’ book were more than a couple suggestions of how to examine the details of a certain medium before its utilization. Secondly, I noticed how #futureready UDL is when it comes to molding expert learners. Through guidance from ISTE and application of Bates’ insights, the potential of UDL could be amplified. The interconnectedness of these three resources could bring about possibilities and benefits that educators, in the right time and place, could maximize for the students.