The Feelings:

For the weekly reflections portion of this class I’ve decided to add a section to reflect on how my week went as a whole. Whether it in this class specifically or the way the whole week went down, because it’s important to me.

This week was overwhelming for me (100% is the reason why I am reflecting on this week, a week late). I am still getting settled in to the whole university life, a very full course load and trying to balance work and fun as well. I quickly realized that there was going to be a lot of learning in this program, (shocker) and it was going to be all at once.

TechEd:

Without a doubt, this week was hard, not having a in person class for a class that only meets once a week is rough. As mentioned previously the feeling was overwhelmed, questions like “Can I manage this?” and “What did I get myself into?” were a common theme.

Although I was roughing it through the other portions of this class, the course content this week was actually super interesting. I watched Greg Whiteley’s film ‘Most Likely To Succeed’ which shed light on a whole new perspective on learning. I myself have troubles staying engaged in the classroom, I like to say my ADHD likes to keep teachers on their toes. Seeing the approach the teachers at High Tech High used completely blew my mind. Whiteleys film challenge the education system in America and put it under a microscope in a way that I have never seen before. I’ve seen lots of people on the internet call out and analyze the education system, but no one ever suggested any alternatives. The students in this film were self motivated, willing to learn, and were able to self reflect on themselves and their learning which isn’t very common in the public school system. This film had me engaged and wondering, what would learning, education, and society look like if the approach High Tech High uses, was the standard? Would there be less people living on the streets because they found what works for them? Less crime? ect. To say the least, if the film had me that engaged, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a student there. I hope throughout my teaching career I can take even a just a sliver of this approach and apply it in my classroom.