Friday, August 6, 2010
Session 11: Best Practices
Now this Best Practices site is truly "what it's all about". That is, I once thought about structuring this whole course around this site. However, there was so much else I wanted to include also. But now, as we are approaching the end of the course, take a moment... in fact, several moments, to look through this site. Do you ever use the Jigsaw method in your teaching? ... or Inquiry Learning... or Project-based Learning. Those teaching strategies, as well as others mentioned on this site, should used periodically in every teacher's classroom. Research shows that those strategies lead to fuller student learning and understanding. If we know that, why do we ever still use the least effective way of teaching.... lecture?
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6 comments:
I have never seen this website but the ideas go along with a class I took this summer called Models of Instruction. It was a great class where we discussed a lot of different models to enhance instruction and integrate more active learning into the classroom. The research is endless that students are more likely to be able to pick up on patterns and transfer information to future problems if they are able to experience hands-on learning opportunities. Lecturing is actually one of the least effective methods of learning.
One of my favorite learning models that is represented on this website is the jigsaw model. The way it is explained on this website is that each individual is a piece of the puzzle and must share what he or she has learned for the benefit of the entire class. However, you can also have expert groups and learning groups. The expert groups learn a part of a concept and become ‘experts’ in that area. Then you put one expert from each group together in a learning group and they teach the rest of the group their part. This way each child is responsible for the learning of the entire group. The accountability is important in cooperative group learning and it also creates a sense of inclusion that is imperative for the classroom. However, I think we still use the lecture model of learning because of the curriculum guides that seem overwhelming to cover. It is easy to fall into the lecture model to ‘power through’ the information, but we all know that the students won’t ever remember if we only teach that way. All of these models are great, and I plan to use several in my classroom this year!
I completely agree that using these strategies is very effective in the classroom. I feel that when I taught 2nd grade I used more of these strategies in my classroom like jigsaw and group projects. I liked that this website included a lot of Kindergarten ideas to incorporate. As I was looking through the strategies I was thinking about some that I use in my classroom. It is a requirement for my school to use centers but I mainly have literacy centers. We are currently looking at ways to improve literacy centers at my school. I also use math centers but I would love to be able to integrate some science and social studies into my centers. Since we do both literacy and math centers it would be hard to take another chunk of the day to have centers. In Kindergarten a lot of learning is inquiry learning and discovery learning but I know that there are ways to improve this also. I am glad that learning strategies like these are encouraged now. When I think about life outside of education many jobs use strategies like jigsaw and cooperative learning when people are working together. I also enjoyed the assessment strategies that this site recommended. I think it is important to assess students in ways other than paper and pencil.
Variety is the spice of life, or so I have heard it said. Variety in the classroom is a key component in keeping students engaged and challenged as they work toward mastery of concepts. Without novelty and different teaching techniques, students and the teacher get bored with the material quickly. Problem-based and collaborative learning are important components of a successful learning environment. If our students always learn in isolation, how will they ever know how to work with other people on projects in the workplace? If they only learn concepts in isolation without making connections to problems needing to be solved, how will they ever apply what they have learned?
All of the ideas presented empower students to lead in their learning, instead of waiting for the teacher to drop all the information they need to know in their laps and tell them exactly what to do with it! What a great plan! Students NEED to lead in the classroom, know what they are supposed to be learning, and work toward the goal of mastering the material. Too many classes in which they simply sit and absorb information and then spit it back out leads students to be lazy and lacking in the drive that leads all people to want to figure out the answer for themselves. Our world needs problem-solvers who can work together with tools they have and can create to develop out-of-the-box ways to fix problems.
Collaborative learning through the methods presented, Jigsaw, Learning Centres, etc., are great for teaching students responsibility and accountability. They are responsible for their own learning, but they also need to contribute to the overall learning success of their groups. This is a powerful way to positively use peer pressure in the classroom to help students understand that others depend on them and are looking to them as examples.
This Best Practices site is a great tool for teachers to learn about different ways of presenting material to students. This takes some of the “power” away from the teacher and puts it in the hands of students, but this needs to happen if our students are truly going to grow and develop into global citizens, ready to tackle anything that comes their way.
I personally love this site! It is extremely helpful. When I read about the site I was very excited to learn it was made by some public school teachers, not some researchers or people with PhDs, teachers! One of my favorite teaching strategies is the Jigsaw Method. This a great tool for teaching collaboratively. I use the Jigsaw Method three times a week when I do Math centers. I should try to do it more, but third graders get a little out of control. I love how the website explained Jigsaw and the other strategies step by step. They can be very confusing, but this website has done a great job of simplifying the instructions to where we teachers can understand exactly how the method or strategy works. I especially love the examples they give. That is always helpful, but the best part of it is I can use their examples in my teaching. Not only do they give examples that we can use, but they also give assessments that show you how to give assessments using the methods, but they also let you use those assessments for your classroom notes. They also give other resources for you to use. They not only give you there website but they also give you links to look at more research. My favorite part is the link to the Reader’s Workshop and Writers Workshop! I am just now starting to implement these in my classroom and I need all the help I can get. I shared this with my colleagues who are also starting to implement the two workshops. The presentations are also very valuable and I will definitely use this website in the future.
This website seems to bring together many processes and models I have studied in previous classes. It is a great resource that brings so many different ideas for teachers together in one place.
The Inquiry model is one I have researched for a class previously. Although I have never gotten the opportunity to teach this method to an actual class, I hope to do this one day in the future. The Inquiry model allows students to go out and find information for themselves instead of the information being delivered via lecture by a teacher. It is invaluable that early on, students realize the idea of going out and answering their questions!
Another familiar concept were the workshops. In a reading class I took last year, we talked in detail about writer's workshop and reader's workshop. These are also strategies I am excited to use once I get into the classroom.
One of my favorite things about the site is all the information provided. It is extremely helpful to have "Description, Process, Examples, Assessment, Resources" for each strategy. The fact that this is broken down so easily makes this site a great resource!
The quote from the home page of this site defines precisely what the teacher ought to believe about his classroom. Of course we should teach the way that children learn best. But, our struggle is to determine that way. I have not yet utilized Jigsaw Groups, but I plan to incorporate this strategy immediately. My students love the time they receive to work together. They enjoy explaining a concept to a peer when they understand it. It would be a great practice to begin in math since these concepts are difficult to internalize for my students without several different types of practice. Furthermore, I have begun to employ Inquiry Learning in my small guided reading groups. The comprehension strategies we practice enable the students to generate a myriad of responses. Questions like “how am I like the main character,” enable my students to utilize critical thinking skills and their imaginations. We have begun “share time” during writer’s workshop. The students enthusiastically welcome their opportunity to share themselves in front of their peers. With this end in mind, they work hard to prepare a piece. Previously, I was weary of including Project-based Learning. It seemed like too difficult task to prepare specific performance-based rubrics for assessment. However, its value for student learning seems irreplaceable. The students choose, explore, and learn. I am glad to know about this site and look forward to using it as a resource in my planning.
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