“A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days” by Wiggins
I found the article ““A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days” by Wiggins to be very enlightening. I have noticed how much students tend to sit in class. I like to incorporate labs and other activities where students must get up and move around but I need to find more ways to incorporate more activity into my classes. I have been working on correcting Wiggins’ observation of how much time students spend listening passively during class. I am trying to take breaks to incorporate small group discussions, think pair shares, and quick writes during lectures. I also am trying to give students the ability to drive their own learning by assigning projects where they do their own research. Finally, I want to incorporate Wiggins’ idea for students’ Essential Questions into my classroom. I really like the idea of devoting the first couple minutes of class to going over student questions from the previous day and letting them decide which ones we focus on.
“How to get a job at Google” by Friedman
I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Google hires many employees without college degrees in the article “How to Get a Job at Google” by Friedman. I thought the characteristics Google looks for in people they hire makes sense in a company where innovation and creativity are a driving force in their success. “The No. 1 thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it’s not I.Q. It’s learning ability. It’s the ability to process on the fly. It’s the ability to pull together disparate bits of information.” I thought this was interesting because this is the ability that I want most to develop in my students. I also thought the idea of leadership, humility and ownership being essential in a good employee also translates to school. If I can encourage students to exhibit those characteristics in my class then I will be able to engage students.
I found the article ““A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days” by Wiggins to be very enlightening. I have noticed how much students tend to sit in class. I like to incorporate labs and other activities where students must get up and move around but I need to find more ways to incorporate more activity into my classes. I have been working on correcting Wiggins’ observation of how much time students spend listening passively during class. I am trying to take breaks to incorporate small group discussions, think pair shares, and quick writes during lectures. I also am trying to give students the ability to drive their own learning by assigning projects where they do their own research. Finally, I want to incorporate Wiggins’ idea for students’ Essential Questions into my classroom. I really like the idea of devoting the first couple minutes of class to going over student questions from the previous day and letting them decide which ones we focus on.
“How to get a job at Google” by Friedman
I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Google hires many employees without college degrees in the article “How to Get a Job at Google” by Friedman. I thought the characteristics Google looks for in people they hire makes sense in a company where innovation and creativity are a driving force in their success. “The No. 1 thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it’s not I.Q. It’s learning ability. It’s the ability to process on the fly. It’s the ability to pull together disparate bits of information.” I thought this was interesting because this is the ability that I want most to develop in my students. I also thought the idea of leadership, humility and ownership being essential in a good employee also translates to school. If I can encourage students to exhibit those characteristics in my class then I will be able to engage students.