| Ideas Encountered |
| Classroom Anticipates Life The teacher creates a classroom environment that prepares the students for the situations they will face in the future. In PDP, the settings we encountered on campus served to show some ways that we could organize our classrooms in the future. From the poster projects to the morning warm-ups, we saw a range of possible activities we could employ in our own classrooms. The �possible activity� most relevant here is that of creating a classroom that prepares one�s students for activities they may undertake in the future. For example, students would do the work of scientists in the science classroom: asking questions about the natural world, designing and carrying out experiments to answer them, making observations, and developing answers to their questions. As well, situations requiring students to think about, and possibly make decisions about, issues that will become important in their lives could be created. Poster-Collages As a way of bringing their personalities out in the class, students can create posters that represent themselves. They can use photos, artifacts from their lives, magazine clippings, written words, artwork and anything else they wish to. Posters can be hung in the classroom so the students and the teacher can spend some time looking at them. The posters provide a way for students to express themselves in a private project that they can then bring to show the rest of the class. There can be student presentations of posters, which may become verbal autobiographies prompted by the posters. The posters are essentially tools that allow students to feel comfortable with revealing who they are to the class. Group Work This is a way of working where each person�s ideas are heard and used to construct a collective product. The group environment tends to stimulate the thinking of the students in ways that individual work does not. Students critique each other�s ideas and have the opportunity to alter their own ideas. As well, as part of the dynamic of a good group, the ideas will form rapidly as contributions from each member automatically assemble into a coherent structure. It can be like a constructivist sculpture being held together by several hands. The result of each group�s work can be presented to the class. The class can then discuss the different findings and use them to create an enlarged structure. Attempts can be made to form a consensus or to draw out ideas that were common to all groups. It may be shown that plurality of ideas is often the result of a truly open debate. Microteaches Students choose a topic to present to the class that meets certain criteria. The presentation itself is designed by the students to meet certain requirements. The lesson can be very brief while still containing several aspects of a lesson. Students have the opportunity to examine concepts in ways that suit them. For example, one student may present the concept in a concise way while providing many applications of it, while another may keep the presentation abstract but explore the concept in great depth. Students may wish to appeal to learning styles not addressed in the typical lesson. The activity will show students that they can learn from one another and teach one another. This is very important, as students can then introduce their own knowledge in the classroom, thereby enhancing the classroom, rather than leaving it up to the teacher to do so. A great deal of learning will take place in that scenario that would not in a teacher-centered classroom. Reading Responses Students read articles selected by the class and form responses to them. Articles chosen should represent differing viewpoints. Students are asked to analyse and critique the articles, questioning rather than merely accepting the opinions of the author. This activity exposes students to opinions and styles of argument found outside the classroom. If the articles relate closely to the other classroom experiences the students have had, they will show that the ideas they are encountering in the classroom are also at work in the �real world.� This is also a good way to expose students to ideas from outside the classroom. The opinions expressed in the articles are not associated with particular people, so students will not feel pressured to take on or reject the views expressed. Of course, if a student�s parents or peers have a very strong opinion on an issue, it will affect that student. Loose Criteria Criteria for student assignments/activities that are intended to stimulate certain kinds of preparation and work but that aren�t used in assessment in a strict way. The criteria are intended as starting points rather than controlling forces. Experiential Learning A lesson can be based on a set of materials tht are meant to be taken along by the students for further examination. Another type of lesson is more of an experience - something to be felt by not recorded and replayed. The lesson isn't to be discarded or ignored after the fact. It should be recalled or used as a springboard for future learning. Coherent Practice (Credo) A teaching practice with complete interdependency and consistentcy among its component parts. Each aspect of the practice allows for and gives strength to every other part. Expectations of what roles the teacher, the student, the classroom environment, and the subject matter play must all be considered. It is important to point out that a practice can be coherent yet not justified. Portfolio Created by student alongside schoolwork to direct and enhace learning, and to provide a useful resource for the students future learning. Can be used to document change the student has undergone over time, to allow for personalization of learning, and to lay the groundwork for future learning. It is a place where the students experiences are in some way recorded. Knowledge Forum A place where the discoveries of some group of students can coelest so that everyone in the group can take advantage of what everyone else found out. Allows ideas to "snowball" but also provides a way for new discoveries to be integrated with old ones. In the latter scenario, the class can begin to form theories working from a large body of knowledge. The forum should exist on the internet, so that information can be accessed from most anywhere, as well as reorganized and condensed. Thomas Haney Secondary School - Self-Directed Learning Where students create their own learning situations and lead their own progression through the curriculum. The objectives they are to reach have been set out by others, as have projects/assignments for them to complete. The students work individually or with other students most of the time and seek out assistance from a teacher when they need it. In this environment, students must be motivated to learn. They must also be imaginitive and bright enough to work out many problems unaided. Objectification of Phenomena The use of visible objects to create a representation of non-visible phenomena. Many intracellular, chemical, and physical phenomena are impossible to observe directly. They will only be understood indirectly, or not at all, if they are communicated via words and images only by the teacher. If students can somehow experience these processes, they will have a much better opportunity to apprehend them in a physical way. An excellent way to get the physical reality across to a student is to have him/her create a way for others to experience the process. Multiple Intelligences The eight manners in which human beings make sense of the physical world. Students will typically have strong and weak areas among these intelligences. A student should discover them in order to get useful opportunities for learning. A teacher should discover them in his/her students and in him/herself so that lessons play to the students' advantages or serve to reduce their weaknesses. Retreat Use of a new, unfamiliar setting to provide a new range of learning experiences and a new perspective on ideas examined in the classroom. Students face a new set of challenges and have the opportunity to create new solutions. The setting is pervasive - it is present at all times. This is unlike the traditional classroom, which can be left behind after only an hour or so, and hence obscured or even forgotten. Intermodulation - Exchange Placing students in a new learning environment that is controlled by other teachers. For example, an exchange between schools. |