If a teacher uses a big picture concept to draw ideas and thoughts from his/her students, then the students can develop an understanding of their own responses in relation to the content because they can draw their own conclusions from the teachers initial concept or idea which makes them think for themselves more actively. They can develop their own style of comprehending what they are being taught.
This was my "If...then...because" statement of the day. While watching the Jerrid Kruse video, I concluded that I enjoyed his method of introducing data interpretation versus the scientific method. He began by asking questions to develop an idea and then had the students expand on that idea which made them think for themselves. He used a constant question and answer method that I believe is important in cognitive development. Rather than spitting information at them, he made them spit information at him all the while directing them in the direction he wanted them to go in. This made me think of this mornings metaphor. I used conducting a symphony but I can now see how that metaphor has major flaws. I will think about a metaphor I'd rather use and post it later but for now I can see how it is important to not only conduct the lesson but have the students conduct back. The whole body learning video was a different experience for me and I can only describe it as almost frightening only because I have never seen this type of reaction from students in my personal experience with students and as a student myself. While I thought it was effective in engaging the classroom, I did not think that the teachers methods of that particular lesson was effective in actually teaching the content.
Seeing the different teaching methods has so far broadened my understanding of what might and might not work in different content areas. As an English teacher, I hope to utilize the question and answer method often because literature is a very open-ended subject when it comes to analysis. On INTEL: I really enjoyed seeing our progress on paper. I realized that although it was more difficult to articulate our ideas, we came through with a much more solid schema on learning and our ideas actually changed for the better. I will close with a fill-in "If...then...because..." based on my INTEL group work:
If small groups work productively together on an assigned task, then the individual students within the group can improve their own understanding of the lesson content because the peer dialogue, debate, and relevant conversation within the small group can broaden that students' comprehension of the content as opposed to a lecture based lesson which might stifle the various ideas by various students.
This was my "If...then...because" statement of the day. While watching the Jerrid Kruse video, I concluded that I enjoyed his method of introducing data interpretation versus the scientific method. He began by asking questions to develop an idea and then had the students expand on that idea which made them think for themselves. He used a constant question and answer method that I believe is important in cognitive development. Rather than spitting information at them, he made them spit information at him all the while directing them in the direction he wanted them to go in. This made me think of this mornings metaphor. I used conducting a symphony but I can now see how that metaphor has major flaws. I will think about a metaphor I'd rather use and post it later but for now I can see how it is important to not only conduct the lesson but have the students conduct back. The whole body learning video was a different experience for me and I can only describe it as almost frightening only because I have never seen this type of reaction from students in my personal experience with students and as a student myself. While I thought it was effective in engaging the classroom, I did not think that the teachers methods of that particular lesson was effective in actually teaching the content.
Seeing the different teaching methods has so far broadened my understanding of what might and might not work in different content areas. As an English teacher, I hope to utilize the question and answer method often because literature is a very open-ended subject when it comes to analysis. On INTEL: I really enjoyed seeing our progress on paper. I realized that although it was more difficult to articulate our ideas, we came through with a much more solid schema on learning and our ideas actually changed for the better. I will close with a fill-in "If...then...because..." based on my INTEL group work:
If small groups work productively together on an assigned task, then the individual students within the group can improve their own understanding of the lesson content because the peer dialogue, debate, and relevant conversation within the small group can broaden that students' comprehension of the content as opposed to a lecture based lesson which might stifle the various ideas by various students.
Anisha,
ReplyDeleteYou've made some good observations here. I agree about working on your metaphor. It is/will be a work in progress and none are perfect. One point you make: "Rather than spitting information at them, he made them spit information at him all the while directing them in the direction he wanted them to go in" is of particular interest to me.
Reading this statement leads me to think that you believe information/knowledge resides inside of our heads and comes out of our mouths--quickly and kinda nastily (spit).
What do you think a week later?
GNA
I guess I did not mean to put the word spit. In my haste I used the wrong work to explain what I felt was going on. Maybe instead of spit I could use "Rather than giving them the information point blank, he made them think about the answers and had them call answers out all the while effectively guiding them in the direction in which he wanted to go." I think students have a tendency to withhold information they know for fear of getting it wrong but in this type of free setting, they can express their understanding and the teacher can guide them until a better understanding is achieved.
ReplyDeleteAnisha,
ReplyDeleteFair enough. Jerrid certainly knows how to employ wait-time right? Have you studied that concept yet? If not, what can you intuit about it? If yes, do you agree w/ my assertion?
GNA
We did talk about wait-time in another class and I think I would have to agree that Jerrid used this method in the classroom at some points. He asked questions and the students seemed to volunteer the answers fast enough but in a few cases no one would respond so he would wait. He then decided to rephrase the question in order to get them to answer the question in a different way which is important because he wasn't just giving them the answer.
ReplyDelete