What Baby George Taught Me About Learning

    Mike Wesch's TED Talk, "What Baby George Taught Me About Learning in my oinion is essential not only for educators but for any adult that wants to work with youth. Wesch made a comment that many people may look at and say, "its been said before or we know this already" but is almost always overlooked. That comment being, "Learning is not about a grade or a score". Its a shame that our educational system centers around standardized testing or who outranks who in reading, writing, and math. Whats makes this whole situation even more disappointing is, our students are suffering in other areas such as, the necessary skills they need to thrive in the world. In Ken Robinson's TED Talk, "How to Escape Education's Death Valley, Robinson compares the US's educational system to Finland's. The students in Finland score exceptionally well in the areas of reading, science, and math. However, educators do not base their students success solely on standardized testing. The teachers in Finland give equal attention to other disciplines such as; humanities, physical education, and the arts.



 


 Mike Wesch also touches on the level of disconnection students feel from their teachers  Some teachers can not or are not willing to share the spotlight. I don't want to say share their power because in my mind the word power has a negative connotation attached to it. We could learn so much from our students if we took a step back from being the educator and became the student. We can learn just as much if not more from our students than they could ever learn from us. By ting this process in the classroom, you're closing the door of disconnection and establishing a level of trust and respect. If students do not trust you or feel as though you respect them, it makes it that much harder for them to approach their teacher(s), let alone trust them.

Mike Wesch and Ken Robinson share a common mindset when it comes to education and the learning process. That mindset is, education and learning make up a human system. Standardized testing should not be the basis of learning. How are standardized tests going to help our students when they're looking to interview for a job, how are these tests going to help our students with public speaking. They're not essential to furthering the skills of our students.

Prensky vs Boyd

Prensky believes that this generation of youth are "digital natives. What he means is that youth are learners who can easily pick up on new language in the same way they could  pick up learning how to dance.  Prensky goes on to utilize ans compare the term digital natives to the older generation hence, the digital immigrants. Prensky says older adults have to learn new methods of  technology at a slower rate. When I read this, I thought of my mom and my aunts. They are definitely digital immigrants. For the longest time, they used flip phones to communicate with one another. They would look through phone books to find numbers to certain business and they were technologically challenged when it came to social media. Two years ago, they all bought android phones. To this day, they struggle when it comes to texting. Nine times out of ten, they would have one of us send a text message to someone they know. When it comes to me, I would have to say that I am more of a digital native. I caught on to texting and social media fairly quickly. However their are certain aspects of the digital immigrant era that I caught onto such as; face to face conversations, and emailing. Mainly because I didn't have my own phone until I was 19 years old. So, one could even argue that I am more of a digital immigrant as opposed to a digital native.  

 

Boyd believes that it not accuarte to assume that all youth are digital natives.  She believes that educators are responsible in helping youth navigate all methods of technology. I agree with Boyd 100%. I have youth in my after school program that don't have phones, and I have some kids who don't know anything about Snap-chat, Facebook, Instagram, or  TikTok. Just because you see kids with phones or you see them texting, that doesn't mean that they are experts in the field of technology.  Boyd also feels that if  educators automatically assume that youth are digital natives, then they will surely turn their backs on their  responsibility" to help teenagers develop the necessary skills they need to succeed in the world. I've seen a teacher get angry at a  student who struggled when it came to using a chromebook. She said, "how do you not know how to use a Chromebook. You're what 12?" She was upset that she had to sit with the student and walk him through what to do. But she was wrong for automatically assuming all her students were technological experts. 

Introduction

My name is Essence Harrison (she, her, hers) and I am a 2016 graduate of Rhode Island College where I received a Bachelors degree in Youth Development. I have been working for the Boys and Girls Club of Providence for the past two years as an Assistant Site Coordinator for an after school program stationed at Roger Williams Middle School here in Providence. In March of 2020, I was accepted into the first cohort of the Rhode Island College Masters of Youth Development program.


When my work hat is off, I am spending time with my family. I have two sisters and one brother and have been blessed with two beautiful nieces and one handsome nephew who I love to pieces. I enjoy writing poetry and reading fiction novels.

Working for the Boys and Girls Club has made me realize two things. One, I enjoy working with middle school youth and two, my philosophy when it comes to working with youth is, give youth a choice and give youth a voice. I choose to work for my kids. If their is something about the after school program that they would like to change, I give them the space to do just that. Last year, we had a junior staff program in which 10 students ran their own program. But not before, going through a six week program on different forms of leadership, attention getters, and communication. I would like to become a college bound counselor in a middle/high school setting. I was blessed to have a counselor with the Educational Talent Search (ETS) of Rhode Island who exposed not only myself but some of my high schools peers to different colleges. He helped us with the complex college process. I want to be able to be the type of counselor he was to the upcoming college bound generation. 

My oldest niece graduating from high school. No pandemic could break her spirit. 

My handsome nephew on his first day of  his last year in elementary school. 

My little baby. His name is Scruffy. 

My baby girl on her first day of middle school.