TEP 305 Technology Journal Blog

     Stephen Ritz's "A Teacher Growing Green in the South Bronx" is very inspiring, especially for its innovative approach to pedagogy and social uplift. In my opinion, the most compelling theme is the transformative power of exposing students to nature and providing them with tangible skills. I believe that Ritz's dedication to reclaiming vacant lots as bountiful gardens resonates with the potential for expanding education beyond conventional schoolroom boundaries, teaching responsibility and pride in students.      The video redefines what a successful teacher looks like by emphasizing the importance of creativity and adaptability. Ritz demonstrates that teachers can be forces for transformation, not just for their students but for their communities as well. The tipping point of students gaining employment and continuing into college due to the skills learned in the Green Bronx Machine emphasizes the long-term impact of such an effort.     ...

I love that Sir Ken Robinson added humor to his speech. To me I personally think that when someone does that, it helps the audience want to continue listening to them. It makes it sound more like the speaker wants to connect with their audience. His speech is a great critique of the factory-style, standard approach to education that so very frequently suppresses creativity and individuality. His reference to a "Death Valley" so beautifully describes how schools create a barren ground for learning where students are not permitted to bring to full bloom their unique talents and interests. Robinson's emphasis on personalized instruction and cultivating a love of learning rings very strongly. He argues that teaching is not about shaping raw, young children into a preconceived, narrowly defined form, but about nurturing a natural curiosity and creativity innate in raw, young children. This is a mental gear-shift, from a view of education as a means of producing subservient ...

What Sir Ken Robinson says about knowledge not being how much you know and how much you want to discover is very profound. It reverses the traditional concept of education and puts less emphasis on memorization of facts and more emphasis on curiosity and exploration. The greatest educators that I personally had were the ones who did not pretend to know everything and instead learned through students. Such educators created a culture where question-asking and challenging assumptions, and venturing into the unknown are absolutely permissible and done collectively. To inspire and accommodate students better today and tomorrow, the teacher needs to move beyond the "sage on the stage" model and become a learning facilitator. Such facilitators create learning environments that challenge students to question, to experiment, and to collaborate. Such facilitators are also learners who accept the assistance students offer through the dimensions and viewpoints they bring to the classroo...