(Blog Entry #1) The New Millennium: Accommodating Generation Z By: Febbie Faith Ramos BSED-4

Teaching extra-ordinariness. This is the ultimate challenge of the educators of today's generation. 

Why?

This is because we need to bring something new to the "educational table" in order to bring further motivation as well as further enlightenment to the learners of Generation Z. We need to give them the perception that we are versatile enough to respect and adapt their multiple intelligence. Give them a sense of assurance that we are flexible enough to cater their academic needs. Enable them to think for themselves but guiding them through the right sense of thinking. 

Knowing the Generation of Today

The learners of the present are quite unique in their own ways. They are the pioneers of the "instant mentality". They are innate technology operators and social media enthusiasts. They are highly exposed to the technological advancement of the which they can't imagine life without these gadgets. They are digital learners where they find the teaching-learning process more meaningful if it is influenced in the way they acquire knowledge and wisdom.

Pioneers of "instant mentality". Indeed, the generation of today are quite impatient. This is due to their perception of getting things done in a fast pace. They highly rely on the machines to enable them to work at ease. This way of thinking however has made them indulge in the attitude of laziness for the cases of plagiarism all over the world are quite prevalent nowadays. They are often times used to the "Copy-Paste" assignments. 

Innate technology operators and social media enthusiasts. The generation of today have the ability to learn how to properly maneuver technological gadgets with ease and oftentimes without assistance. This is due to the fact that they are born in the cyber era and through this they are the enthusiastic social media users. 

The digital learners. Study shows that 70% of our receptors are derived from our sense of sight, this fact is true to all especially to the learners of today's generation. This is the main reason why we as teachers have to be versatile enough to enable them to learn in their context and not in ours. 

Accommodating Generation Z

PIE is not a delicious treat but it is an ingredient to become a successful educator. It is an acronym which means Plan, Implement and Evaluate. 

Plan. As a teacher of today's era, we must plan our discussions in order to us to let the learners experience a meaningful learning experience. We must create comprehensive lesson plans, however we must always be eclectic enough to have at least a back-up plan so that we can be prepared for whatever is coming. In planning, we must always consider the interest of the students so that they have an alleyway to further relate to the lesson topic. If we plan not be the only talking head of the classroom, then we must also empower the students to impart knowledge in giving the discussion in their own context. As the saying goes, "Plan your walk and walk your plan".

Implement. In implementing, the teacher must be energetic enough to deliver the discussion. Incorporate every interest of the students in your lesson so that they can also speak what is in their minds. Inculcating values is easy of we translate the lesson topic in their setting. Give them not just your insights but give them also an avenue to give theirs and meet half-way. Students nowadays are easy persuaded if they can feel that the teacher is giving them the liberty to be empowered. At times they just don't want to be entertained, rather they want to be engaged in order to learn something. 

Evaluate. There is after all no such thing as a perfect teaching strategy that can be applicable to all learning situations. The best method there is, is the capability to incorporate teaching strategies that can yield favorable results. In this premise, we can therefore deduce that the context of "perfect" can be achieved if we always give allowance to our points of improvement. Apply the corrections from the lapses seen in the method, strengthen it by giving reinforcements or completely eradicating these mistakes in order to let the learners experience a more exciting, meaningful and interesting learning experience. 

If they can't learn the way we teach, they we must teach the way they learn.

We must always give respect to their multiple intelligence and respect the way they learn. We must have at least the courage and the strength to reach out to the youth of today in order to fully understand them, and in understanding them we can pave a way to teach them the way they understand. 

The video below is the RSA animated film of Sir Ken Robinson's speech on "Changing Educational Paradigms". 

Grades: Caging YOU in a Box

           

            Introduction

            The teaching-learning process involves a series of painstaking sacrifices and commitment both in the part of the teacher and of the student.

            But what is learning then?

            Learning is not spoon-feeding the information to the students; it’s about enabling them to take the spoon for themselves and to feed themselves. It’s not about being the only talking head in the four-corners of the classroom but it’s about empowering the other heads to speak for themselves as they express what is in their minds. In a nutshell, learning is not one-sided, but it’s a give and take process.

            But how can you emphasize the essence of “learning” if you devote yourself to the standardized basis of grades?

            How can you uplift the notion of “learning for the sake of learning” when you are encouraging your students to learn for the sake of good grades?

           

            Reality behind the Numbers

            According to Alfie Kohn in his essay entitled, “The Case against Grades”, there are three major reasons why grades play a hindrance towards the learner’s urge to learn:

            1. Grades tend to diminish students’ interest in whatever they’re learning. 

            - You want them to write an essay with your given topic and you have presented them the rubric as basis for the rating of their paper. You are very particular with the syntactical elements of the document and rated them accordingly. If you do this, chances are you will encourage the students to write about something YOU want and not about something THEY want to explore; They will give you an output that YOU have expected them to do and not what THEY want to do. It’s just blatantly saying, “You HAVE to do this or else you will FAIL”.

            2. Grades create a preference for the easiest possible task.

            - You let them write a home reading report and have presented the rubric in assessing their work; you have thus rated them according to the standardized basis. You emphasize the value of the format and spacing. You highlighted the importance of grammar and concept. If you do this, chances are you will coerce them to find an easier book to read in order for them to MINIMIZE the error that they may commit; You are enabling them to “play safe” instead of being adventurous and you are declining their divergent thinking as you strive to follow the standard you have drawn.

            3. Grades tend to reduce the quality of students’ thinking.

             - You set out the pointers for your long quiz. You gave them the information that they needed to know. If you keep on doing this without having the slightest inclination to ask them if they have further clarifications chances are, they will only succumb on the information that will be INCLUDED in the test rather than to further explore the information given. This will ultimately decline their learning retention as they are extrinsically motivated to learn. Sure they may scan the books, but ask them a week after you gave the quiz- they can’t even remember a thing.

            Conclusion

            The examples that I have presented may be mundane or even ordinary in your eyes, but the aftermath of these situations may cause a serious discouragement of the student to learn for his/her own benefit; And they will ultimately succumb in the encouragement of the numerical or letter equivalence of their performance.  An environment with intense adherence to strict implementation of grades may yield to a classroom full of cheaters and a teaching-learning environment where high-achieving students will have a tremendous fear of failure.

            At some point, the goal orientation of the student may play a vital role on his/her learning retention and that his/her perspective on education may rely on his/her point of view as dictated in the philosophy of subjectivity. However, despite the motivation of the learner we as teachers (or future teachers) should enable the students to think for his/her own self-improvement. Emphasize the fact that THE GRADE DOESN'T DEFINE YOUR BEING and ultimately highlight that A GOOD NUMERICAL EQUIVALENCE OF YOUR PERFORMANCE CAN’T MAKE YOU THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PERSON IN THE WORLD. It’s not about the grades, it’s about you and your intelligence. It’s not about the grades, it’s about you and your strengths as well as your points of improvement. Lastly, it’s not about the grades, it’s about you and your determination to learn fully for your development.

            Learning is not a box where the learners are caged rather it’s about eradicating the limitations to enable the learners to reach beyond the retrains and think with divergence. It’s about enabling the students to become who they aspired to be by teaching them how to think INDEPENDENTLY and DIFFERENTLY. It’s about giving them the opportunity to explore and be adventurous of what they can discover.