Master of Arts in Teaching, 2009
School of Education
January 1, 2010
Educator Uses Streaming, YouTube, and Website to Help Connect Parents, Students, and Teachers
Effective educators see a student need and fill it. Tim Bedley, BIOLA graduate and UCI Intern alumnus, saw a need to make students active participants in their own education. Within traditional teaching methods, students typically are more passive learners rather than active ones. Teachers give just a handful of students the opportunity to participate in discussions and decision-making. Study after study continue to show the traditional model of teaching as ineffective; however, most teachers do not adjust their pedagogy. Tim envisioned a collaborative learning environment filled with interaction, which looked at children and their natural tendencies as raw undeveloped talent. He found that students like to lead, talk, and move. Why would an educator fight these tendencies instead of training students to maximize their educational experience? Tim found answers in constructivism.
Tim noticed early on that music worked as an effective tool to teach grade level standards. After an exhaustive search for educational songs geared for upper elementary “tweens,” Tim came up empty-handed. Using his background in music, Tim and his life-long rock musician friend, Ben Jacobs, wrote and recorded songs that would appeal to tweens while teaching challenging academic standards. Rockin’ the Standards was born. Teachers were soon blasting Tim and Ben’s music in classrooms around the U.S., as well as in other English speaking countries. As of December 2009, Rockin’ the Standards‘ album Math was #1 on Amazon downloads in the educational music category and has been in the top 100 children’s albums on iTunes. The album, contains fourteen songs including The Place Value Rap, and The Angles Song. Currently Rockin’ The Standards is recording a language arts album.
Each new school year, Tim brings fresh ideas to his classroom. This year Tim began to stream his classroom live on the Internet. For parents, viewing their child’s classroom live develops confidence in Tim’s unique style of teaching and creates a greater connection among parent, student, and teacher. Streaming also affords sick students the opportunity to “come to school” even when they have to stay home. Tim has found that streaming his classroom has had a highly positive impact on student behavior, performance, and motivation.
Tim also uses the power of video to share his teaching ideas through YouTube. His educational videos are on display at http://youtube.com/user/tbed63. Content covers peer review, alternatives for correcting math, learning styles, and reaching consensus. Tim intent is to provide these videos as training for teachers.
For the past 22 years, Tim has taught grades 3 through 6 in Capistrano, Lake Elsinore, Temecula, and Menifee. He also has been involved in teacher trainings for Sunday School teachers and new teachers, in District Summer Institutes, and on the leadership team at the Constructivist Design Conference on Educational Improvement in New York.
Besides teaching, Tim enjoys Bible study, time with his family, sports, working out, and video production.
Look for Tim Bedley’s upcoming book about his innovative teaching techniques to foster critical thinking in the classroom. You can learn more about Tim’s work and contact him through his website http://www.timbedley.com