Learn Something New
October 2, 2020 |
One of the goals I had as director of the Childhood Education program was to use social media to communicate with people interested in working with children and families or who might be teachers in the field looking for new information and ideas or degree possibilities. There was a small problem, however. I knew nothing about social media. I was so ignorant that I needed a highly skilled student (Ariana Lucero) to show me how to download the apps and how to put content up for people to see. I didn't even really know why I wanted to start this social media push other than I knew that students and anyone younger than me (most people) were using these platforms to communicate with people. The experience got me to think about a couple of things.
First, Ariana, whether she knows it or not, is a natural teacher. She patiently broke the tasks down for me to understand and then had me do it as she watched. Excellent formative assessment strategy! Then, we talked about it. It is funny to me that I teach all day about the value of Vygotsky and Piaget and then someone who knows nothing of these theorists (she is in pre-law) intuitively used her scaffolding techniques to teach me a new and very foreign task. She did it in a developmentally appropriate way as well. I am so impressed with the teaching she did for me, but I can’t seem to convince her to change her major!
The second thing it got me to realize is it’s always great to learn new things. As I have gotten older, I tend to resist learning new things and new ways of making meaning of my world. I think we tend to start thinking that we have seen it all and that there are no new ways of seeing the world. I was wrong. Ariana has showed me that even I can learn these new things. She reminded me of the boost of energy you get when, despite all of your established and tired ways and lazy habits of mind, learning new things is exciting and fun and it keeps you young. I also have come to realize that social media is here to stay and like my dad used to say, ”lead, follow or get out of the way”.
We are on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We also have this blog that we will link everyone to each week. Look for entries from all of our faculty and some of our students. The purpose of the blog is to enlighten, educate and hopefully bring a smile to your face. On our social media there will be announcements about trainings or education related opportunities and new programs we will be offering. I hope it will open the doors of a rich and fruitful discussion between us here in the Childhood Education program and the rest of the world. Please feel free to link to us and please, if you like what you see, retweet and turn others onto us.
As always, remember “there is no significant learning without significant relationships”
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xavier_soe/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XUschoolofeducation/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/educationxavier
Sincerely,
Dr. Thomas Knestrict
Director of Childhood Education
513-745-3703
