MOOC's A New Kind of Education

One of the benefits of having extra time is that I have the opportunity to explore. My last 7 years in classroom have made me a great teacher but feeling like I've lived in a cave. I spent the first few months spending a substantial amount of time looking into interesting programs, online resources, school models, and teacher resources. It always began as fascinating and interesting, but after about an hour of linking to new links, and new programs,  I would find myself transitioning from excitement to frustration. I want to return to the classroom next school year and I just don't want to fall into the same cave. I wonder how many people there are working in the field of education who are not classroom teachers.
I found MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses. They are an amazing resource to keep yourself out of the cave. What I really like is that they are what you make of them. Some have more assignments and readings then others, some have tests. Others just put together ideas, resources and encourage people to participate and interact. The course I'm currently taking is though the university of edinburgh. It's not really applicable in classrooms but it's an intellectual challenge. Teaching like many professions can become monotonous, repetitive, and frustrating. People label our generation as Millennials. Sometimes called "Generation Me." Switching jobs frequently, comfortable with multi-tasking and technology. Our generation was growing and evolving as the internet was doing the same. MOOCs are a great way to keep from falling into a funk, exploring new ideas, and the choice to be as involved as you want to be. To be honest I don't really know what exactly what I'm doing in these MOOCs but I suggest people to try it. How wonderful is having some great minds of great institutions sharing their knowledge for free all over the world. Will college degrees really have as much value as certificates from a wide range of classes, from some of the greatest institutions in the world?

Just a Quick Thinking Summary

This blog was not really supposed to be about venting but with a lot of extra time to read books, twitter, articles I have a few take aways about politics and our country. I am not a big fan of memorizing things, but I am grateful that my 5th grade teacher had us memorize the pre-able.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterities. 

Things that I have been doing with my time that I brought me to these conclusions:

1) Reading Zietoun- the story of a family man's journey in the days leading up to and during Hurricane Katrina.
2) Twitter- Cory Booker (Newark's Mayor)- is an absolute fav. He does so many good things for the people of his city. He is a daily reminder that there are good people in the world doing great work each and everyday.
3) Controversy over Education- I try to stay on top of different sides. The fact of the matter is our education system needs to do better. Does it matter if the school is a traditional public school or charter?  Let's look at great teachers, great schools, great school leaders, and strong curriculums to help guide us in the right direction.

Read, connect to people, hold judgement, help those in need. Make the most you can of the life you have been given. In the end it won't matter what religion you practice, or what god you pray to. We will be judged by the way we loved, the way we cared for others, the connections we make...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o