Pleasantdale 107 Believes Children Learn Best When...#2
Belief 2: Students have voice/choice and work alongside peers and teachers in collaborative environments
Providing students a voice promotes creating a community of inspired learners. Schools are really all about the students, and it is interesting when they don't have a voice in what is happening there. Yesterday, I spoke with all of the students in the cafeteria and I asked them one question. I asked them by showing me using a thumb up, thumb to the side, or thumb down to describe how the beginning of this school year has gone for them. After seeing many thumbs up, some thumbs to the side, and a few thumbs down in each grade level, I followed up with them by saying, "If you didn't have your thumb straight up, please tell me something that could make the start of your year better." It was so empowering for the students to be able to share. It was enlightening for me, and the lunchroom supervisors, to hear what the students need and want, in their own voices. I think the lesson they are learning is if something isn't as they think or hope it should be, they should tell someone about it who can help make the situation even better.
Students learning about topics of their choosing promotes interest and engagement. So often, we have to cover certain content and truthfully, some of that content isn't as interesting or intriguing to our students. So what can we do about this? Well, we can provide choice and options for students. Standards and local curriculum developed from those standards provide WHAT students should learn. What they don't say is HOW students should learn them. This is what makes teaching an incredible art. Teachers hone their craft by knowing their content, knowing their students, and developing lessons that appeal to a wide range of learners and personalities. When learning environments and lessons are created in this sort of way, they allow students to own their learning and teachers to cover the material they need to cover.
A key 21st century skill is the ability to collaborate with others. What better place to learn about this and practice it than school? The key to creating a collaborative environment is the manner in which the class is taught. In order to support this collaborative environment, the physical layout of the classroom needs to change. Think about what the classroom looked like when you went to school. Were their individual desks arranged in row? Were they all facing the front of the classroom? Was there a chalkboard at the front of the room or if you're a little younger, maybe the teacher used an overhead projector and transparencies?
All of what was described above is a teacher-centered classroom. In these classrooms, teachers must be up in front sharing the knowledge with the students who write it down, memorize it, and take a test in a week or two or three. This model hasn't changed for more than 100 years!
Where education is heading is a more student-centered, collaborative classroom. In these classrooms, students work in groups and learn with and from each other, still being required to independently grow and develop their knowledge and skills. Also in these classrooms, teachers model for students how to learn something new. Teachers aren't afraid to not know all of the answers. In fact, teachers in these classrooms, hope that students are coming up with questions and ideas that will challenge even them to learn.
Another aspect of these collaborative classrooms are the physical learning spaces where students and teachers learn. I mentioned above that the students are working in groups. These groups need to be able to change and so having flexible learning spaces are key to supporting this. Flexible learning spaces can occur using tables that have lockable wheels or desks in one portion of the room and other group working spaces in another part of the room. An example that you might be able to relate to would be for you to think about where you work best when you have to do computer or paperwork in your home? Some of you may sit at a desk that you have, while others may sit at the large dining room table. Others of you may sit outside or even on the comfortable couch in your living room. Regardless of where you sit, the point is that sitting in a solid desk in rows may not the optimal learning location for a student, and if we're thinking about the future and believe in collaborative learning environments, we need to work to create them in our schools.
These collaborative environments are wonderful places to learn together and support our mission of creating a community of inspired learners.
Providing students a voice promotes creating a community of inspired learners. Schools are really all about the students, and it is interesting when they don't have a voice in what is happening there. Yesterday, I spoke with all of the students in the cafeteria and I asked them one question. I asked them by showing me using a thumb up, thumb to the side, or thumb down to describe how the beginning of this school year has gone for them. After seeing many thumbs up, some thumbs to the side, and a few thumbs down in each grade level, I followed up with them by saying, "If you didn't have your thumb straight up, please tell me something that could make the start of your year better." It was so empowering for the students to be able to share. It was enlightening for me, and the lunchroom supervisors, to hear what the students need and want, in their own voices. I think the lesson they are learning is if something isn't as they think or hope it should be, they should tell someone about it who can help make the situation even better.
Students learning about topics of their choosing promotes interest and engagement. So often, we have to cover certain content and truthfully, some of that content isn't as interesting or intriguing to our students. So what can we do about this? Well, we can provide choice and options for students. Standards and local curriculum developed from those standards provide WHAT students should learn. What they don't say is HOW students should learn them. This is what makes teaching an incredible art. Teachers hone their craft by knowing their content, knowing their students, and developing lessons that appeal to a wide range of learners and personalities. When learning environments and lessons are created in this sort of way, they allow students to own their learning and teachers to cover the material they need to cover.
A key 21st century skill is the ability to collaborate with others. What better place to learn about this and practice it than school? The key to creating a collaborative environment is the manner in which the class is taught. In order to support this collaborative environment, the physical layout of the classroom needs to change. Think about what the classroom looked like when you went to school. Were their individual desks arranged in row? Were they all facing the front of the classroom? Was there a chalkboard at the front of the room or if you're a little younger, maybe the teacher used an overhead projector and transparencies?
All of what was described above is a teacher-centered classroom. In these classrooms, teachers must be up in front sharing the knowledge with the students who write it down, memorize it, and take a test in a week or two or three. This model hasn't changed for more than 100 years!
Where education is heading is a more student-centered, collaborative classroom. In these classrooms, students work in groups and learn with and from each other, still being required to independently grow and develop their knowledge and skills. Also in these classrooms, teachers model for students how to learn something new. Teachers aren't afraid to not know all of the answers. In fact, teachers in these classrooms, hope that students are coming up with questions and ideas that will challenge even them to learn.
Another aspect of these collaborative classrooms are the physical learning spaces where students and teachers learn. I mentioned above that the students are working in groups. These groups need to be able to change and so having flexible learning spaces are key to supporting this. Flexible learning spaces can occur using tables that have lockable wheels or desks in one portion of the room and other group working spaces in another part of the room. An example that you might be able to relate to would be for you to think about where you work best when you have to do computer or paperwork in your home? Some of you may sit at a desk that you have, while others may sit at the large dining room table. Others of you may sit outside or even on the comfortable couch in your living room. Regardless of where you sit, the point is that sitting in a solid desk in rows may not the optimal learning location for a student, and if we're thinking about the future and believe in collaborative learning environments, we need to work to create them in our schools.
These collaborative environments are wonderful places to learn together and support our mission of creating a community of inspired learners.
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