In The Element by Sir Ken Robinson, he writes about "finding your tribe" and how crucial it is for finding your element. The tribe he speaks of is a group people who are passionate about the same things that you are in a similar way. This tribe helps and supports you in finding your element because it is also their element. I could not find this idea anymore true. Being part of a cohort this past year has been the most amazing part of the program. Being a unit that is working toward the same goals allows everyone to grow and thrive together. It allows for bouncing ideas off of one another and discussing things of interest. While I could discuss education with a businessman, he is not a part of the tribe and most likely does not want to hear all the intricacies and latest developments, just as I do not want to discuss the stock market.
Finding a tribe of like minded people with similar ideas, ideologies, and interests is integral to growth. I didn't completely believe what everyone said at first about making sure that you fit into a schools culture when looking for a teaching job, but when I started my second student teaching placement, I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I had found my people, "my tribe." I found a place where I am challenged and am able to grow because I believe in what the school is doing and their mission. Finding people to support your passion, not just in the background but alongside you, may be just as important as actually finding your element.
In reading The Element, I have noticed that Robinson often writes about the failures of the education system and a lot about how people who were not traditionally educated are now incredibly successful. He attributes these successes to people finding their true "element." While I believe that these people did find their true element, the intersection of their passion and talent, I feel that their cases are very rare. I believe that deterring youth from education because it may not be conducive to finding their "element" is a risky notion. Even people who find that intersection may work very hard at it and not find success as the people that Robinson tells of in this book did. Los Angeles is filled with talented people who would love to be the next Paul McCartney. But truth be told that kind of success is very rare. I am all for people finding their element but not necessarily at the cost of their education. It may be my bias as a teacher but I believe that pursuing an education will open more doors for someone than it will close. I understand pursuing something that one is passionate about, but some of what Robinson writes about is a little drastic to me.
This was infinitely easier to do than the rolled tacos, especially one handed. Buñuelos are a traditional dessert to serve around Christmas time. But let's face it, they are delicious any time of year and super easy to make. They are just fried flour tortillas with cinnamon sugar on top.
Note: I made way to much of the sugar mixture in the video. One cup of sugar would have been plenty.
So I said that I would add the chicken recipe from the rolled tacos video, but watching chicken boil is pretty boring. I think that this is a very simple recipe and is much better suited for print.
Chicken with Tomatillo -Tomatillos are the small green tomatoes, but they are not just green regular tomatoes. Those are totally different and the chicken will come out disgusting if you use that instead.
This is a tomatillo. It comes with a papery skin around it and then looks like a tomato on the inside.
The very first thing you need to do is boil the chicken. It needs to be cooked through as you are not going to be cooking the chicken with all the salsa ingredients rather just combining them for flavor.
Into the water: -1/2 chicken -1 onion cut in half (put both halves in the pot) -1 clove of garlic -salt to taste Let the chicken boil for 45 minutes to an hour
Once that is done and somewhat cooled (so that you don't burn your fingers), shred the chicken.
Now for the salsa ingredients. You aren't actually going to make a salsa it is all going to be combined in the pan.
Ingredients: - 2 T corn oil -1 tomato, chopped -6 green tomatillos, chopped -1/4 onion, finely chopped -2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped -1/2 teaspoon pepper -1/2 teaspoon cumin -salt to taste
Directions: -Heat the 2 T of corn oil in a pan -Add all the above ingredients and mix together on medium/low heat until the onion is translucent and the tomato has broken down somewhat, about 10 minutes. -Add the shredded chicken to the pan and mix for another 10 minutes to combine all the flavors. -You now have chicken in a tomatillo salsa.
You can use this chicken for rolled tacos, or you can simply make a simple soft taco, use it in a quesadilla, or any other ideas you might have.
So this was my second attempt at making a video on how to make Mexican food. I had a harder time making the video than the rolled tacos. I don't know what that means in general, but for me making food is about ten thousand times easier to navigate than technology. The video is actually taking forever to finalize...like an hour, is that normal?
I show how to make the tacos on this video and then I show a picture with the topping but my phone was not letting me record what I wanted. I'll just tell you what I put on top but it is really up to you.
Toppings: -lettuce -salsa (any kind works, but I had some of my dad's on hand) -queso ranchero -sour cream
Other options: -shredded cheese -avocado -diced tomatos -hot sauce (I'm partial to Tapatío) -anything you can think of that would be good on tacos
So this has been in my "drafts" for a while, my struggle with technology continues. Why is there even a draft area? Doesn't it know that I wanted it to post? But finally, here is my reflection on Why School? by Will Richardson.
I'm not going to lie, as an aspiring teacher the title "Why School?" had me a little on the defensive. Because school is awesome and fun, duh! But I kept reading. Richardson does make some good points, but I am also hesitant about his overall direction with technology.
I understand that people now have their personal devices glued to their hands, at least the people that have these devices. So it makes sense that they take them out to look stuff up and don't need to know answers to things that you can put in a google search or into a calculator. But, I think the point of going to school is about more than just memorizing facts. Students are learning how to learn. We don't use our World War I knowledge on a daily basis, but what we learned from having to write about the significance of certain events allowed us to understand the deeper meaning and make connections with today's world. To me, these things are important. The reason details are important at that stage is because it allows students to see the broader picture and apply it to significance. For me at least, there is a method to the madness. I'm not saying to ask students trivial questions, but sometimes those little details help with the bigger picture piece of the learning experience. In the same manner, people don't really need to know exactly what 238 x 15 is because they can look that up on a calculator with more accuracy. But they do need to understand how that answer popped up on the calculator. What exactly does it mean to multiply 238 x 15. We use these devices when we get older because we already understand those concepts. But to me it does not make sense for a fifth grader to have a calculator out for that. High schoolers? Sure. Elementary? Not necessary, let them persevere in problem solving and figure it out. I agree with making those learning experiences meaningful, but I don't think that having technology with them at all times is necessary or appropriate. As we continue to integrate technology, there are so many ways to make its use authentic and meaningful. But to me that doesn't mean having it present every second of every day.
The one thing that I am most hesitant about this technology centered approach is the amount of students without access to technology. We already know that the education gap exists and lets face it, these are the students most likely to lack access to technology. What happens to them? I know that we obviously cannot stop the world from advancing but what do we do for them? Do we require that every school have personal devices to supply each student with? Do we ignore it and just help those with the means take advantage of this new knowledge? I teach in an area that is not particularly struggling but still have about 6 students whose families do not have an email address. This leads me to believe that there probably isn't a whole lot of technology at home. But at school we do have 1-1 iPads. But what about the schools that don't have that? Do those children just keep falling further and further behind?
For me, trying to learn French has been a great learning experience. It is difficult to find the time but it has reinforced so much of what I have learned about bilingualism and language acquisition.
First off, being fully bilingual allows you to think conceptually about things. Learning what a "pomme" was did not involve my constant translating it to "apple" or "manzana." Rather, I saw the word "pomme" and saw an apple in my mind. I was not thinking about words but thinking about an actual apple. "Pomme" is not apple, rather it is a sweet thing that can be of a variety of colors, with a peel and a stem that we eat, and that has a distinct flavor.
I really do enjoy the challenge of teaching language, but now that I have been attempting to learn a new language, I find that just as intriguing. When I started this project I thought that I would learn a few French words and move on, but now I can't wait until I have actual free time to spend exploring the intricacies of the language. For example, people say that the romance languages are all pretty similar and that if you know one it won't be hard to learn another. I now know that this assumption is far from the truth. Spanish is a very phonetic and enunciated language. With the exception of "h" each letter has its own distinct sound and you pronounce it in every word. This is not the case with French. I can't seem to get a good grasp on exactly how the alphabet works because letters can make different sounds when paired with certain other letters. Also, plurals are pronounced the same way as if the word was not plural. This has caused me a lot of confusion when doing listening exercises because since there is no "s" sound I don't always catch the plural. You have to rely on the pronoun, which sometimes isn't pronounced any differently either. The single most difficult part to me about French is that words are often mumbled or slurred together. I can't catch all the sounds and get confused about meaning.
I have tried many different things while learning French like listening to music, watching television in French, but I must say that what I have found most useful is Duolingo. I'm better at reading French than anything else, but I figure that's a start for now.As difficult as this has been, I think that learning French will become a lifelong endeavor. Speaking two languages is cool, but I want to know more and want to attempt to understand people in their terms rather than in my terms.
As difficult as it has been, I think that learning French will become a lifelong endeavor. Speaking two languages is cool, but I want to know more and want to attempt to understand people in their terms rather than in my terms.
Graduate student at USD getting a Master's of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and a teaching credential. Here I am posting my reflections about a 20% project and overall reflections about learning and technology.