Friday, October 1, 2010
Sick
Kudos to teachers who let you out of their class when you are sick. Nothing interesting to share today.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Poor Teachers
Today I wanted to vent my frustration with one of the teachers I have.
Let's just call him Carter. Carter is a horrible teacher. He has a very difficult to follow teaching style which leaves me completely confused after the lecture. He seems to be under the impression that everyone in the class is very familiar with the material, which is simply not the case. The end result is that I feel like I am paying thousands of dollars to sit down and listen to a monkey 5 days a week.
The worst part is the testing though. Oh, god, the testing. First of all, his review sheets are incredibly broad in scope. Some of the topics are not even in the book or online, since he uses his own words, and if you missed it during his convoluted teaching style, prepare to get a B on his tests, and best. While the review is broad, his questions are incredibly specific. The average grade of his tests is F. And after all these problems, he still has the nerve to stand up in class and tell all the students how bad they are.
It's this kind of trash that makes me resent going to college. Why do I have to deal with this just to receive a piece of paper that will help me get a job?
To any teachers out there, don't destroy your students' desire to learn with insane expectations. Be understanding, and your students will make you enjoy your job.
Let's just call him Carter. Carter is a horrible teacher. He has a very difficult to follow teaching style which leaves me completely confused after the lecture. He seems to be under the impression that everyone in the class is very familiar with the material, which is simply not the case. The end result is that I feel like I am paying thousands of dollars to sit down and listen to a monkey 5 days a week.
The worst part is the testing though. Oh, god, the testing. First of all, his review sheets are incredibly broad in scope. Some of the topics are not even in the book or online, since he uses his own words, and if you missed it during his convoluted teaching style, prepare to get a B on his tests, and best. While the review is broad, his questions are incredibly specific. The average grade of his tests is F. And after all these problems, he still has the nerve to stand up in class and tell all the students how bad they are.
It's this kind of trash that makes me resent going to college. Why do I have to deal with this just to receive a piece of paper that will help me get a job?
To any teachers out there, don't destroy your students' desire to learn with insane expectations. Be understanding, and your students will make you enjoy your job.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Program, part 1
This is a program I developed. I would comment on it, but the video speaks for itself.
The embedding isn't working correctly. Maybe someone at youtube screwed up?
The embedding isn't working correctly. Maybe someone at youtube screwed up?
Monday, September 27, 2010
Anki
http://ichi2.net/anki/
This here is an incredible program for the purposes of SRS studying. While it is not a dynamic environment which I would like to see, it does offer a review period which is superior. It is mostly used for learning foreign languages. I used it for a year when I taught myself Japanese. There is a wide variety of free material available for download, as well as plugins. The program also supports importation from Smart.FM.
This here is an incredible program for the purposes of SRS studying. While it is not a dynamic environment which I would like to see, it does offer a review period which is superior. It is mostly used for learning foreign languages. I used it for a year when I taught myself Japanese. There is a wide variety of free material available for download, as well as plugins. The program also supports importation from Smart.FM.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Conclusion
So to conclude, I'll wrap everything up.
What we should do in one sentence:
Employ an SRS to create a dynamic and immersive learning experience using imagery to improve our ability to learn, thus creating an exciting and evolving system of achievement.
Yea, conclusions tend to suck. And I got tired of writing about this topic about a week ago - time to move on to much more interesting stuff.
What we should do in one sentence:
Employ an SRS to create a dynamic and immersive learning experience using imagery to improve our ability to learn, thus creating an exciting and evolving system of achievement.
Yea, conclusions tend to suck. And I got tired of writing about this topic about a week ago - time to move on to much more interesting stuff.
Learning is Fun
4)Learning is fun
I am absolutely baffled by this solid, concrete fact of learning. Learning something new is a fun and enjoyable experience. It needs to be presented in the right manner, at the right time, and in the right amount. Force feeding students information they are not interested in will not appeal to them. I would like to outline a couple ways learning is fun.
Learning is interesting. The problem lies in the fact that most mediums of learning are slow, cumbersome, and boring. I've already gone over how to make learning more efficient. I firmly believe if the rate of new information which is acquired is increased, the learning will proportionally be more interesting. If we keep the flow of new, unique information high, then the enjoyability of the material is maintained.
Learning is rewarding. Most people like to feel like they have accomplished something. Unfortunately, it is hard for our brains to quantify and recognize the amount of new information which has been acquired. This is where an SRS is most handy. You can see, exactly, how many new terms, definitions, and examples you have learned. Based on my own experience, this is a very rewarding way to study, and since you won't forget, it encourages you to keep learning more. Without some frame of reference to understand what you have learned, it is hard justify exactly what you invested your time in.
Sorry, nothing really all that interesting in this note. However, it was an important point which needed to be addressed.
I'll conclude everything in my next note, I promise!!
I am absolutely baffled by this solid, concrete fact of learning. Learning something new is a fun and enjoyable experience. It needs to be presented in the right manner, at the right time, and in the right amount. Force feeding students information they are not interested in will not appeal to them. I would like to outline a couple ways learning is fun.
Learning is interesting. The problem lies in the fact that most mediums of learning are slow, cumbersome, and boring. I've already gone over how to make learning more efficient. I firmly believe if the rate of new information which is acquired is increased, the learning will proportionally be more interesting. If we keep the flow of new, unique information high, then the enjoyability of the material is maintained.
Learning is rewarding. Most people like to feel like they have accomplished something. Unfortunately, it is hard for our brains to quantify and recognize the amount of new information which has been acquired. This is where an SRS is most handy. You can see, exactly, how many new terms, definitions, and examples you have learned. Based on my own experience, this is a very rewarding way to study, and since you won't forget, it encourages you to keep learning more. Without some frame of reference to understand what you have learned, it is hard justify exactly what you invested your time in.
Sorry, nothing really all that interesting in this note. However, it was an important point which needed to be addressed.
I'll conclude everything in my next note, I promise!!
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