Human Performance Improvement - Week 7 - Chapter 14

Reflection 1. Related to Chapter 14, what are some ways the ideas/concepts/principles discussed in this chapter could be applied in your professional work? Do you see opportunities where these ideas could help you or your students? Right off, I read something that stood out to me – “HIP is a movement with a straightforward mission . . .” (p. 135). Too many times, we have a broad vision with many interpretations. When teachers are given a direct vision and goals, it is so much easier to accomplish something and not feel overwhelmed. It might be something as simple as implement a new piece of technology every 2 weeks in one of your classes. When told to just implement technology, my brain goes into overdrive and I have a hard time defining what I should do. When not given a clear directive, I will then create personal goals in order to break it down better and not seem like such a huge task. The book states it well when it says, “By focusing on the array of elements affecting learning – learner characteristics, learning context, tasks to be mastered, clearly defined learning objectives, criterion measures, media, and delivery systems – a more comprehensive view of learning systems arose” (p. 139). I also agree that there is something to be said about someone whose sole job is to come in from an outside perspective and analyze how an organization could be more effective. “The PC is there to identify gaps between desired and actual performance, analyze them, isolate the systemic factors affecting the gaps, and recommend an integrated set of suitable interventions to rapidly and effectively eliminate them” (p. 137). While we may not always like the outcome, resources need to be put to their best use and an organization can accomplish so much more when extras are weeded out. However, I believe that people from all levels of an organization need to be surveyed and questioned from their perspective on better uses of resources. There are many areas I am never questioned about that directly involve my job and my classes. If they would have asked me if I thought we should cut elementary technology, I would have adamantly said no a hundred times over. They are now re-evaluating their rash decision from a couple of years ago and are seeing that we need it back. When teachers are clear about our objectives and goals, less time is wasted trying to figure things out and more time is spent teaching our students. 2. As described above under Option 1, profile the podcast(s) you chose to subscribe and listen to (you don’t have to do this if you choose Option 2) Portable TV, Ottawa Canada 4/5th Graders This video podcast, Portable TV, is created by 4th and 5th graders in Ottawa, Canada! This particular episode contained the following segments: • Junior Achievement – students built structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows in a timed format in order for them to feel a similar type of pressure an adult might feel in business; students assembled pens in order to feel similar to a person who might work in a factory; students created advertising posters for their made-up business and pitched their ideas • Student-Invented Game – a couple of students created a game to be played in the gym. They listed the items needed to play the game as well as demonstrated and explained how to play the game. • Top Ten – two students listed the top ten things to do at recess and showed video of students doing these activities during recess o Hopscotch, hide and seek, talking with friends, four square, playing on the play structure, racing, playing manhunt game, touch football, basketball, and soccer (from 10 to 1) • Snail and Whale Visit Our School - little stuffed animals were sent from a different school to theirs and they created a slideshow with them doing different activities • Very Snowy Day – the students documented a very snowy day on 12/21/12 and them playing in it • Teacher vs. Student Challenge – students challenge a different teacher to different competitions. This podcast in particular included a puzzle and playing Guess Who where the students described how to play and the rules of the game 3. What added value might podcasting have in your professional setting (company, school, etc.)? Podcasting could have great effectiveness in the life of a teacher. One very important reason for this is because of the ability to listen or view the podcast on their own time! It is something that can be done during a lunch hour or prep hour or during professional development days. Something to consider, however, is not to assign it as “homework” to the teachers because it will never get done. We have enough to do outside of school, i.e. grading, lesson planning, discovering new uses of technology, etc. What could be an easy way for teachers to accomplish listening to and subscribing to podcasts is to give a time frame of choosing one to listen to, then writing a brief description to share in groups. We have Professional Learning Communities at our school, so this would be a great opportunity to share different podcasts.