With the definition of HPI described at the beginning of the chapter, where the goal is “to achieve, through people increasingly successful accomplishments, directly tied to organizational goals that are valued by all stakeholders…” (p. 135), there are several ways to apply these ideas to a classroom. The idea that a student’s education is valued by the stakeholders is an important idea to keep in mind. In the case of a student, there are many who have a stake in their educational future. The student, the teacher, the school, the parents, their family, and even society as a whole will benefit if the student performs well in class. This leads to the ideas of human capital and organizational complexity that the chapter discusses.
The first way to integrate the idea of human performance improvement theory into a classroom setting is to make sure many of these stakeholders are directly involved with the student’s growth and performance. Making sure that not only the teachers and students are in control of the student’s educational future ensures success. Additional human capital could yield higher performance increases than simply throwing more money at a student could. The idea that more human capital leads to better success for the students also means that the student has a higher potential of being well behaved and acting better at home, as well as possibly participating in more after school activities, means everyone benefits from the student’s growth.
The next idea that integrates human performance improvement into a classroom is organizational complexity. This ties directly to the previous idea of human capital. In this case, the teacher, or even the student themselves, acts as the mediator to all of the different parties who hold a stake in their future. They coordinate the efforts of the various parties to make sure everyone is acting in tandem to ensure success. However, the problem with this idea is that teachers have a complex level of involvement because not only are they managing these connections, they are doing so for dozens of students. Some are also more willing than others. If a teacher is able to coordinate the efforts of the various groups, such as all of the parents, they will have a better chance of successfully organizing the behaviors that could benefit a student’s educational future.
While looking for an educational podcast I was searching for one that I would actually use in my classroom with my second grade students. I came across a podcast called Storynory. This podcast highlights all types of stories for kids. It ranges from fairytales, new children’s stories, myths, poems, and adventures. I’m always looking for new stories to bring into the classroom so my students are familiar with all genres. The link to this podcast is here http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=94571049
I think podcasts are a great tool inside and outside a classroom. There are several that I came across that would be useful to teach kids in the classroom. I found that there are a lot of science and social studies podcasts that could be used. These can be used in a listening center during workshop or small group instruction. It would also be neat to create a podcast with a group of students. Schools could do announcements every morning or teach other classes about a given topic. The opportunities are endless. I also found that there are podcasts geared toward teacher resources. This is a great tool to use to communicate with teachers around the world. Podcasts could also be set up for professional development opportunities. Again, the ideas are endless. I’m glad that this tool was introduced to us because it will for sure be something I will use in my classroom.
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