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How Netflix can help differentiate instruction

1/26/2014

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Since 1997 Netflix has been delivering DVD content across the United States to its subscribers. In 2007, they added an online component that allowed individuals to watch that content directly on their smart-TVs or computers. While competing with services like Hulu and Amazon Prime for content delivery systems, Netflix has also been gathering a huge amount of data from us and using it to parse out ways of making us, the consumers, more dependent and reliant on its services.

In January, the Atlantic showcased one of the deepest ways that Netflix ensures their survival: data analysis and content specificity. For those of us who use the service, we intimately understand when Netflix suggests titles for us to view based on previous choices. But we most likely do not understand the underlying analyses that take place to make those recommendations.

The company has analyzed thousands of titles and millions of user views in order to create specific genres that might inspire us to continue using our credit cards for their services. Genres like "Classic action movies" or " family-friendly westerns" are pushed aside for the more specific "post-apocalyptic comedies about friendship" or "chilling action movies about royalty." This way Netflix can determine what they suggest to users in order to keep them connected. 

While reading this article I could not help but think about how teachers attempt to do the same thing with our students. We are placed in front of classrooms of enormous size and asked to use our knowledge of the myriad of instructional methods to engage each and every one, a practice called "differentiation." 

While Netflix has spent years of work and countless hours of computing power on this task, teachers must use only their limited experience in order to make split-second decisions that might affect the future of a child. Should I push a student to try harder or will allowing them time to "give up" today mean more work tomorrow? Will a small check-in at the end of class inspire more persistence later on or get lost in the other thoughts of the child? These are the actions that teachers take on a daily basis that might help or hurt their relationship with students and their learning.

One of the most powerful lessons we can take from Netflix, however, is one that teachers understand across the country yet is often denied by the policymakers in capital buildings across the country: experience helps. Contrary to the narrative of the "lazy old teacher waiting for a pension," most veteran teachers understand what it means to be an educator and should train the next generation of us to ensure we gain the same knowledge they did. Unfortunately, the teaching professions seems to be becoming a churn factory with half of all new teachers leaving before their fifth year; this process needs to stop in order for the United States to gain grown again for its future.

In summary, next time you stream a film on Netflix, make it an education film and try to pay attention to what the teachers do in their classrooms - it'll surprise you.

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A new year

1/18/2014

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Normally I try to post something on this blog once or twice a week but for quite good reason I have been busy since the beginning of 2014. Not only the end of the first semester in New York City, but I also recent got engaged. Celebrations have abounded and wedding planning has ensued. I will do my best to continue sharing tidbits of information on this blog but may shy away at times to focus on my upcoming nuptials. That being said, below I wanted to reflect on my first few months teaching in New York City.

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I have now been on the job, teaching in Brooklyn, for 4.5 months, enough to get a basic understanding of how the system works. I have taught lessons from the curriculum College Prep Math; I have collaborated with four other teachers for the various classes I am responsible for; I have gotten involved in the goings-on of the school by sharing responsibility in our Committee for Culture and Character that explores how to make the school better; and I am the webmaster for the new school website. It has taken a while to get used to all the responsibility but I am hitting my stride in working with these people and forging relationships with kids that have the depth to truly make a difference.

At the same time I have also developed some negative relationships with a few students who really need the assistance of teachers. The two on the top of my list are in classes they both need to pass in order to be on track for graduation, except their attitude and our interaction are holding them back. At times, this negativity has made me question my role as an educator in a school but I have been persistent in my effort of working with them and am reaching out to others for help. I have gotten good advice that will be used in the weeks ahead, and I will not simply let these negative things happen without dealing with them somehow. 

The last observation I have made in New York City thus far relates to the end of our semester. "Regents Week" is crafted by New York State to be when students take a variety of exams in order to pass classes. Since our school has a waiver from almost all Regents exams, the students are not coming to class on January 28-February 3, essentially giving them another small Winter Break. It is a very strange thing to be in a school without students in the middle of the year, but I look forward to being truly able to plan things so that I can be ready for second semester.

Congratulations to all my peers across the city in finishing their first semester of the year!
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    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

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