Wednesday, July 7, 2010

We Should Listen to the Kids!

As teachers, most of us tend to think that we know everything and that the students should listen to us all the time! Well that was how it was like when I went to school. The students' opinion was never taken seriously. How could it be as the teachers were always right! My dad was a teacher and a principal when I was a little kid. I had to keep quiet or else I was not allowed to get any treats from him.

Then I became a teacher in the 21st century and guess what I had found out or rather what I had learned! As a first year teacher, I had never used Mac computers when I arrived at my present school. I didn't even know how to use the mouse which has no right or left clicks. I felt quite embarrassed that I had to ask a Year 6 student to show me the function. I dared not ask my colleagues because I didn't want them to know that I couldn't use the mouse! I am proud that since then I have advanced quite fast and actually know a lot more than the six and seven years old children in my class. Even then I find myself asking them about certain things that they had learned from their ICT lessons and they never hesitate to show or teach me! They never ask me why I don't know how to do certain stuff because they have this collaborative learning nature which many adults are still struggling to get used to.
A week ago, a Facebook friend has posted the following video on my wall and I thought that it is a wonderful video to share with my friends-whether you are a teacher or not.



14 comments:

  1. I think that simply treating students as if they are intelligent (although they sometimes prove otherwise ;) can make the classroom setting much more learner friendly. If an adult (or anyone) acts as though they can learn nothing from someone, they lose a lot of respect.

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  2. Hi, Will, I agree with you! We learn something from everybody including tiny babies!

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  3. Hi! I'm from Dr. Strange's EDM 310 Class. Wow this young lady is pretty amazing. I think that she makes wonderful points and it is important for adults to take kids seriously. I think we should learn from anyone who is willing to teach us and students love to teach adults new things. I really enjoyed your post and video! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Hi Jenny! I am also from Dr. Strange's EDM310 class. What an intelligent girl. Thank you for sharing this video. Children have such a more broad insight to life and learning because they are more open to change and they adapt well to it. Adora brings up a wonderful point how you have to dream, how adults don't allow themselves to dream because of past defeats. Most adults are set in their ways, not open to realizing that maybe, just possibly a child has more to offer than they might realize. My own daughter is only 3 years old and I learn from her everyday. Just giving a child the opportunity opens up so many doors.

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  5. My name is Christie Odom and I am from Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. I completely agree with this post. I believe that all children have so much information to pass onto us. Like you said, we grew up in completely different times than some of our students, and we should be open to learn from them since we have the chance. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and this video!

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  6. Hello! I'm Caitlin Jaynes and I am also from Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class. Your post brings up a point I have never really extensively thought about. I think we always hear that we should listen to the young generation and that kids can teach adults too... but do the majority of us actually practice this? Do most of us actually take the time to listen to the kids and allow them to teach us? I don't believe so, but I do believe we all should start listening to the children. Adora makes a great point, after all, the young generation will be the ones taking care of us when we are old! Also, I feel as if the kids are learning so much more at a younger age than when I was. In my senior year of high school, fourth graders were the ones who taught me all of the cool little tricks and fun things on SmartBoards. I was only practicing how to type correctly on a keyboard when I was in fourth grade! It is so very interesting to take the time and listen and see what a child is thinking and what they know.

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  7. Ms. Jenny,
    Hello, my name is Leslie Ketchum and I am currently enrolled in the EDM310 class under Dr. Strange at the University of South Alabama. I love this post. I thought it was funny how you asked your student how to work your computer. It just goes to show that kids are very smart. They are also creative. Children are not afraid to take risks because they are too young to worry about being "cool". The video is very impressive. It is a perfect example how children can teach adults.
    Thanks for your time and feel free to contact me at My Blog.
    Leslie

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  8. Hello Mrs. Jenny, my name is Matthew Rodriguez and I was assinged your blog as part of a EDM 310 class under professor John Strange. I absolutely love the video and agree with the message the girl was trying to send out. The message, to me, wasn't about how we underestimate our children but instead, that we underestimate ourselves. No matter what age we are we are never done learning and to learn is to progress and as we progress we make ourselves better suited to communicate and interact with the world. I enjoyed the video and enjoyed posting on your wall. If you would like you can check out my blog at http://matthewsfinalburn.blogspot.com/2010/09/matthew-rodriguezs-blog-post-assignment.html

    Never be ashamed to learn Mrs. Jenny, even if a 6 year old has to teach you. I look foward to hearing from you soon

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  9. Hi Jenny, part of my assignment for my edm310 class is to comment on you blog. I agree with your comment that we should listen to our students. I'm a strong believer, that we are never to old to learn even if it's from a child. The video of the little girl is a good example, children are very intelligent. Just like adults, children can express themselves and just because they are children, doesn't mean that we shouldn't listen to what they have to say. We should encourage them to express themselves and never be afraid to speak their mind.

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  10. Hi! I am from Dr. Strange's EDM31 class at the University of South Alabama. This young lady on here really makes people realize the importance of a child/students opinion. There is so much teacher's can learn from a student's reaction or statement. It's important for teacher's to give the students the ability to comment and have discussions among themselves. It's important for students to be heard and since they don't have the power that teacher's have it's important that we teacher's give them the ability to speak out! We are definitely never to old to learn from a child! Thank you for the blog! I appreciate it!

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  11. Hi, My name is Morgan Mohler and I am in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama! I really enjoyed this post, and the video as well! It is so refreshing to see adults not afraid to admit that they need help from younger people! Children are definitely a lot smarter than we often like to think that they are! I am so glad that you posted this video because it was a very touching video indeed! I think I will use it for my upcoming project in EDM 310 where we have to make a blog post assignment! If you would like to read my summaries for your post, or even my upcoming post about this video you can visit my blog at http://www.mohlermorganedm310.blogspot.com!

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  12. Hi Jenny. I commented on one of your other posts a couple of weeks ago. I am in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama.

    This young lady did a fantastic job getting her point across. Thank you for sharing the video. I agree that it is very important for all adults to realize that they need to learn from children, whose minds are more open and creative. Children should not be viewed as inferior to the adults who were children themselves previously. It is we adults who are responsible for accepting and driving children to reach their goals and become the adults they were made to be. Thanks again! It was a pleasure commenting on your blog.

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  13. Hi Jenny. I commented on your blog post two weeks ago and I have just read your post "We should listen to kids". I enjoyed the video you posted by the young lady. As a Mother of three and one being Autistic I can tell you from my own experiences that I learn new things everyday from my own children. Children have ways of viewing the world that we as adults just can't anymore. I love that about them. I will be posting a summary of your blog posts on my blog. Thanks so much! http://www.hadawayjessicaedm310.blogspot.com

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  14. Hi Ms. She! My name is Leigh and I am a student of Dr. Strange at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. This is the second post of yours I have commented on and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I think it is so important that as a future teacher and adult to learn from children. I think we can learn so much and they can also learn from us. Thanks so much for this great post and great video. Check out my blog if you like! I will be posting a summary of your blog posts on my blog! http://setserleighedm310.blogspot.com/

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