moving at the speed of creativity by wesley a. Fryer
I was a little nervous when I first began searching for an interesting teacher site to review this week. Who am I to say whether a teacher is good or bad at managing their social media posts when I have only just started building my own online presence. Luckily for me, Wesley A Fryer, through his blog Motivating At The Speed of Creativity, offered me an unlimited supply of inspiration.
Mr. Fryer wrote a blog post recently that I am sure reached many high school aged students and their parents called Balancing Choice and Freedom for Happiness and Satisfaction. This blog speaks to an issue that I have seen time and time again in our culture nowadays, the issue of wanting to give our students endless choices, but having to deal with the reality that this can be overwhelming for some who may have not experienced the pressure that comes with making a huge decision, such as where they will go to college. Mr. Fryer compares the decision of choosing a college to the struggle we face as teachers to help our students adapt to the constant decisions presented to them through technology while learning to think critically while making these decisions. |
One of our main objectives as educators is to provide our students with the resources and mental capacity to think critically. In the technology age, this has become more important than ever before. Through apps, online classes, online homework, and eventually that bombardment of mail from colleges begging you to choose them, our students are being overwhelmed with choice every day, and it could be harmful. Mr. Fryer concludes, based on the advice provided by Barry Schwartz, who we all know is an excellent speaker, that too many choices can lead our students to shut down and that we as teachers need to provide a basis for which our students can narrow down these choices to those most effective for them.
I have thoroughly enjoyed looking through his site, but this article in particular caught my eye due to it being so relatable for students. I believe the points he makes are worth taking a look at and worth remembering for future use in classrooms. He has inspired me to be a better teacher by focusing on critical thinking skills, something that technology can sometimes seem to make irrelevant for our day to day lives, but is necessary when truly considered in our decision making process.
I have thoroughly enjoyed looking through his site, but this article in particular caught my eye due to it being so relatable for students. I believe the points he makes are worth taking a look at and worth remembering for future use in classrooms. He has inspired me to be a better teacher by focusing on critical thinking skills, something that technology can sometimes seem to make irrelevant for our day to day lives, but is necessary when truly considered in our decision making process.