Synthesis Post

In reflecting on the work from this semester for this class, I went back and read all the posts I had made in my blog. I started seeing phrases that summed up more than just what I was writing about at the time.  They seemed to sum up the whole semester and the whole idea of nature and design of compelling experiences.  Here are the phrases I pulled out of my previous posts and why I chose those phrases. 

1. Realizations - this seems like it doesnt mean anything, but I feel that realizing what is compelling takes practice. realizing things only happens through awareness, and to be aware of something you have to have some knowledge of the thing in the first place.  For example, if you saw a white rabbit in the backyard, you might say 'cute a white rabbit', but if you were aware that a neighbor had a white rabbit as a pet, you would react differently.  I think this is what I mean about realizations.  These are things that hit you and make you think about something in a way that others might not think about them.  
2. See the meaning of something - Seeing the meaning is one that is easy for yourself, but is hard to see the meaning of something for someone else.  This phrase stuck out  because as a teacher, I have to see the meaning of what im doing in my class every day.  I have to see what the kids see and see why they would want to learn about it.  Seeing the meaning behind something is like seeing through it, being able to break it apart and separate all the pieces into their little parts and diagnosing what each part is.  Seeing like this is practiced and learned, not something that comes intuitively, so this is something that is not easy for everyone.  As a teacher you need to see the meaning in order to relate the meaning to the kids so they will want to understand the meaning too. 
3. Look at details - This seems obvious in a class about compelling experiences, but I feel that I need to explain why.  Details are what makes up everything.  You can look at a blade of grass and say cool, blade of grass, but if you really look at it you might notice how the cells are aligned, how the veins run in the blade, if there is anything that has been snacking on the edge or if there is a small bug on the back.  If you notice all those things about the blade of grass, you start seeing it as something more.  Looking at details is making more out of what you see by adding to the meaning and purpose of the detail by really analyzing what you see.  
4. recreating is hard, coordinating is harder, catching is impossible -  This one spoke to me because when we are teaching a topic, we tend to develop a lesson and then reteach it over and over again regardless of how its effectivenenss has faded over the years.  Recreating ourselves as teachers is hard, which is why people fall into a rut.  But as teachers we need to recreate our lessons often, evaluate what works and fix what doesnt so we are better able to coordinate the learning in our classrooms.  Coordinating is harder because to coordinate what we want to teach with what they want or how they want to learn is difficult.  It is something that as a teacher we also need to do on a regular basis.   
5. control what the viewer sees -In making things more compelling, we need to have the ability to control what the viewer sees, feels, and thinks for that matter. In doing so we can make an image or movie more thought provoking because we are narrowing the view for our viewer.  If we are able to control what they see then we can sort of control what they feel and think.
6. Why is more important than what -In the case of compelling experiences the why is often more important than the what.  Meaning why are you showing that, why are you putting that there, why are you doing that? Why is what teachers do, we teach kids because we know that they need this knowledge and that they need to know how to think.  Why is what we try to reach for daily.  Its not necessarily what we teach, it could be Shakespeare, Beethoven, Monet, Theory of Relativity, etc. But it is how we teach it that really makes a difference.
7. making people react -compelling experiences make people react in some way.  Anything that is compelling is also thought provoking, meaningful, and sometimes difficult to express.  As teachers we need to get them to react to what we are covering, otherwise they will learn little.
8. process not just result -when dealing with a compelling experience sometimes the process to get to the result is more important than the actual result.  An example would be making a movie, you have to go through all the planning, shooting, and editing in order to get to the end result of having a finished movie project.  All the pre-final stuff is what really matters.  That is where the learning process takes place.  This again goes back to the why is more important than the what.
9. make meaning come alive for others -Artists like Monet, Shakespeare, Bach are all great because they are able to make the meaning of their work come alive for the person experiencing their work.  They are able to relate the material to others in a way that many other people are incapable of doing.  As teachers, we need to be able to make the meaning come alive for our students by designing experiences that are compelling enough in nature to get a reaction from the students.
10. open our eyes -I think in designing compelling experiences for others the most important thing is to open our eyes and actually see what is in front of us.  Often times we forget to stop and smell the roses and forget that there is beauty and amazement all around us.  All we need to do is take the time to open our eyes and see it. 
 

In all, these phrases seem to sum up the class for me and what I've learned about working with compelling experiences, either making them or experiencing them.  I've learned that it is these types of experiences that make education great and really help students learn and advance their knowledge of a subject.  Overall, this class has helped me open my eyes and see what I am doing in my class and why I am doing it.  It has made me think about my projects and making them more thought provoking for my students.  It has helped me to see.