When you go to New York City and you take the subway for the first time, it can seem a little confusing. Why would you take a train when you can easily hail for a yellow taxi cab? Isn't it faster to take the cab? Well, even though the answers to these questions involve convenience, it is still quite costly to take a cab (especially in NY...going two blocks in any direction can cost 10 bucks!). However, the subway can be a lot cheaper. Although taking the subway can be a handful, you can, with practice, learn to maneuver how to get around NYC, and add to your bank of knowledge with commuting. This brain expansion can hep you in the long run in shaping your skills.
I've taken the NYC Subway system for almost 20 years. I have to say I didn't really perfect the art of subway riding until I was 19, but, of course, perfection takes time. With these skills of being a commuter, I was able to commute anywhere, in any state, and not be worried or dependent on having a ride. When I visited my friends in Boston, I would have no problem taking the T (the name of the train system in Massachusetts). The subway map had different names (and colors), but I was still able to use my prior knowledge of commuting and get myself anywhere around Boston. I still find myself commuting in Ann Arbor with no worries and having those commuter skills being useful in the long run.
But wait, what does this have to do with our Connections Across Disciplines Assignment? I got the opportunity to work with Katie and Lulu, who definitely have different mind sets when it comes to teaching. Katie, being a future math teacher, and Lulu, being a future biology teacher, had some different spins on how to run a lesson. And these "spins" are things that I wouldn't have imagined in putting in my classroom. But now they have helped me think I outside the box. The major example is how Katie included a video of Spongebob in our lesson; a non-conventional video for a conventional classroom. But it's effect on learning would be huge. I hope to find cool cartoons to include in my future chemistry classrooms. Tying it back to the beginning, working with Katie and Lulu were the "inconvenient, cheaper subway ride." I would normally like to do a lesson my specific way, but it's easier (cheaper) to work in a group because it lessens the amount of work that needs to get done. However, in working with Katie and Lulu, I have definitely added to my knowledge bank and shaped my skills as a future educator by expanding my brain. This interaction will definitely help me in the long run.
Yes! Take the subway! The Tube! Metro! You see (if not meet) so many interesting people on the there. It's the humanity, man! So many things to see and think about! I remember this time on the A train one summer afternoon in the 90s, there was this guy with broken accordion, a pool cue and a live Cornish hen (don't ask). Anyway, he got on at 155th street...
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, I love to learn from others, mostly by watching them do their stuff and taking notes. But working in a group can be an experience. Good. Bad. Often both. In my experience not having a set idea about what you want done can be good. If you have “figured it all out yourself,” you need to be ready to let go and accept someone else's input somewhere. Or at least pretend, ceding only the stuff you never cared about in the first place.
But the real thing is when you come up with something better than what any one person could come up with alone. I hope teaching is like this at least sometimes when it comes to working with colleagues. I know I will try to create opportunities for this to happen among students in the classroom as often as I can.