Becoming Miss Frizzle

 If you happened to grow up in the 90’s I’m almost positive as soon as you read the title of this post your face lit up. Miss Frizzle was an iconic character of a teacher who took learning to a whole new level; enabling her students to gain first hand experiences and allowed them to have every form and type of learning at their finger tips. I fondly remember a particular episode where the magic school bus traveled through Ralphie’s blood stream to learn about how he got sick. My parents would say that episode convinced me to become a doctor for about a week where all I could do was talk about biology. Funny enough I’ve now learnt that my true passion lies in teaching like Miss Frizzle (perhaps not being able to do all the crazy experiments she did..) but I do very much so want to inspire my students. With that being said apart of being a 21^st learner means that technology and media are a major influencing aspect to our students' learning.

Inspiration is a funny thing. What inspires and motivates me might not be what motivates my best friend.  Drake, Reid and Kolohon (2014) state the importance of knowing your students when designing curriculum. Though, as a future educator I will not specifically be designing my own curriculum I will be organizing activities that must best suit my students, so I think this idea is crucial for student learning. With that being said lessons that were taught 20 years ago no longer suit the needs of students.  What I find to be interesting is that media and technology motivate almost everyone. They have this unique power to engage students in subjects that could be considered boring and uninteresting. Even with videos like the, Magic School Bus; it gives students a different perspective on curriculum content.

Increasing the use of media and technology within the schools for the most part have been seen as a positive change for 21^st learning; however, Moore, Jensen and Hatch (2001) argue that this may not be the case as children lack crucial critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skills are vital skills for a child’s success within and outside of the education system. Drake, Reid ad Kolohon (2014) explain throughout the text that almost all curriculum documents within the education system have this as part of their mandatory skills to be learnt. I think this is absolutely essential- students must be taught to in a sense; ‘read in between the lines’. It is more often then not that I hear students explain that they want to look like a cover girl or that they want the newest iphone in grade one because it looks ‘cool’ on tv. I think these moments should be considered ‘teachable moments’. Additionally, moments like this usually ‘spark’ interest in students and can further promote inquiry skills. Inquiry skill development is vital component to the Ontario curriculum currently and this form of media could be an excellent tool to scaffold that development (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013). Specifically Clarke (2012) sheds some light on the positive aspects of utilizing technology in the classroom as she supports this notion that technology has the ability to enhance inquiry based learning. Overall it is these moments where we must teach children that not all ‘cover girls’ have to look a certain way and that there is a tool out there called photoshop. We must teach them to question all that they see and hear so that they are able to make educated decisions and form educated thoughts. 

The power media and technology have on students is astounding. Just like how Magic school bus inspired me to want to become a doctor for a week; it is evident that media and technology are major influencing factors on the lives of children. Popular movies shown in class like: “Bill Nye the Science Guy” stay with students for years and can be remembered fondly as part of their elementary school days. It is important to note though (as mentioned above) that there is some controversy with this kind of teaching.

This Dove beauty video is an example of media can also be a helpful tool when it comes to teaching critical thinking skills.

Comparatively however; in going back to the notion that technology and media may not be ‘good for education’; YouTuber Jonathan Stickland poses an interesting spin on technology and education in the classroom. He explains that perhaps technology can help with learning certain things but it’s the collaboration of hands on learning that can truly make a difference. Do you agree?

With that being said technology and media are apart of our daily lives and I believe that as future educators we have a responsibility to teach our students how to get the most of it and how to properly use it.  Overall I ask myself how I can be as motivating and inspiring as Miss Frizzle. Is it the red curly hair she has? Or is the magic bus she drives? Or could it possibly be her cute little green lizard, Liz? It is my quest to find the answer to that question and I believe part of that answer by made hidden in what content we teach students (the curriculum), the skills we teach them and the values we teach them. I think that media and technology may be a tool like the magic school bus was for Miss Frizzle to help inspire my students. So my quest continues to discover how I, Miss Emma can inspire, motivate and re-define success for my students.

If you are additionally interested in reading about the controversery between allowing technology in the classroom the below article by Today’s Parent is an Interesting Read. Let me know your thoughts!

An interesting Read:

http://www.todaysparent.com/kids/technology/technology-in-the-classroom/

References:

Clarke, E. J. (2012). Empowering Educators through Teacher Research: Promoting

Qualitative Inquiry among K-12 Educators. Journal Of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research, 7(2), 64-79.

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and

Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21^st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Moore, R., Jensen, M., & Hatch, J. T. (2001). Bad teaching: it's not just for the

classroom anymore. American Biology Teacher (National Association Of Biology Teachers), 63(6), 389-391. doi:10.1662/0002-7685(2001)063[0389:BTINJF]2.0.CO;2

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2013). Social studies grades 1 to 6 history and geography

grades 7 to 8. In the Ontario curriculum.

Images:

Miss Frizzle Images from: http://static.sarahbessey.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/3e730de6abe5ac5dddab1d6f5a0918f3.jpg

Magic School Bus Image from: http://www.baylor.edu/content/imglib/2/3/8/3/238322.gif