Weekly Reflection #1

In the first week of EDCI 336 A01, we discussed a myriad of topics including RSS, the “Most Likely to Succeed” documentary, an article regarding AI teaching kids and a slam poem by Taylor Mali. These subjects are important conversations for teaching candidates, such as ourselves, to be having. Discussing controversial topics will begin to help properly prepare us for real-life classroom and student experiences and interactions.

The documentary “Most Likely to Succeed” takes place at High Tech High in San Diego and focuses on two ninth grade students working on projects. The school has unique approaches to education compared to majority of tradition high schools. Instead of standardized testing they have project based learning, they focus on collaboration instead of individual work and teachers work with students as guides more so than instructors. I think the documentary was valuable to see different teaching strategies because I had not seen some of the methods in action before. As a student in high school, I would have appreciated having creative freedom with my work and the opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge in a unique way compared to memorizing knowledge just to forget it after a test. I wonder if graduated students from High Tech High felt properly prepared for university course work after having applying their knowledge differently for so many years. Post-secondary is a stressful time for everyone and the additional academic stress could potentially add pressure that leads to burnout. As teachers, it is our responsibility to set students up for success and I am not sure if High Tech High’s approach fully considers that. There are pros and cons to both education systems and I think the tricky factor is that there is no right answer for everyone. All students learn and preform differently, ideally as educators we are able to find balance for our students to thrive.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a technology that allows you to receive updates from websites, blogs or other sources of your choice. I am yet to try RSS but I think it could be a very helpful tool out of convenience because all of your favourite sources could be in one place which prevents you from hours of doomscrolling and distractions. You are choosing what type of content you would like to see which could be helpful with managing social media and screen usage with young audiences. From what I know about RSS, I don’t see any negatives and I wonder why it is not a more common tool used in today’s online world.

The article “Alpha School wants AI to teach a billion kids. Should it?” compares Waymo, a self-driving car company to Alpha School, a private school that uses AI models to educate children. I strongly disagree with AI teaching students because so much of the schooling experience from K-12 is exposing children to socialization, connection, fostering community and healthy communication skills which is something that can’t be taught by a thing that does not feel. While that is the most stand-out concern for me, there are also other valid worries. If AI continues to rise in popularity in classroom settings, millions of teachers positions are at stake, not to mention the tuition for an institution like Alpha School ranges from $40-75,000 a year which is no where near realistic for well over majority of the population. The idea of this model aiming to reach a billion kids should be highly alarming for everyone and not a conversation we turn a blind eye to or avoid out of fear.

In the poem “What Teachers Make”, Taylor Mali passionately shares the importance of teaching and what a critical role and impact teachers have. Instead of interpreting the question as what he makes in money, he changes the meaning to what he makes from teaching by measuring his impact, memories and contributing to making a true difference. Teachers hold an incredibly essential job in society and Mali’s piece invites the audience to feel his raw emotions regarding teaching. Although it is true teachers are significantly underpaid in the US, Taylor Mali explains how value is not determined by a pay check but the impact we have on others.

Overall, there were various thought-provoking concepts in this week’s content which left me with lots to think about as a future teacher. They are complex and dynamic conversations with different perspectives with potentially no “right” answer. I think the most critical part is that all educators aim for the same goal of students succeeding in their own ways, however that might look. I look forward to seeing the development of these topics in my later years of education and as I step into the work field.