-
So I had an interesting idea the other day while in a staff meeting, Karyn pointed out that we need to give out kids learning choice in the classroom. I thought about the inquiry process I had set up and although I was giving the kids a wide range of learning area activities, I wasn't giving them as much choice as I could have.

As I wondered about how I could fix this I thought about kids choosing which learning area they'd like to work in, and it got me remembering how I used to have choice in my childhood. My thoughts wandered to those pick-a-path books that I used to have when I was a kid - "Do you want to enter the fair ground? If yes, go to page 12, if no go to page 49" - and I thought... Could I use that in my teaching?

If you had a big independent project, separated up into tasks, and for each task you gave the kids a range of curriculum areas to choose from - could you initiate choice that way?

If you want to do an arts task, go to page 23. If you want to do a literacy task, go to page 12.

Your tasks could still travel deeper into blooms, as the arts task after page one wouldn't be the same as the arts task after page 23.

Just a thought, I might try it after we finish the project they're on at the moment. The only down side would be the masses of planning and organising the teacher would have to do. But I like the name facilitator better than teacher, and that's what a facilitator would do!

Comments

  1. Anonymous6 June 2013 at 16:03

    Wow, interesting thinking. Yes it would be lots of work, but it could produce very exciting and engaging learning. Look forward to seeing what you come up with. And I like the term facilitator better than teacher, teacher implies you are the one with control and power rather than the learner. Another take on the old saying " sage in the stage, or guide from the side."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6 June 2013 at 17:59

    I like your idea as well - what fun. Maybe even a 'whodunnit' detective theme??? Ah I love creative thinking, but putting it to the test sometimes insurmountable. The different levels of any type of game could represent the solo taxonomy that I am starting to get my head around.
    Imagine brainstorming the different ideas for games and how to create them - now that would be serious fun. Could start by asking the students what their ideas would include - maybe they write the script - then it becomes learner centered, and they are stakeholders in the process. I wonder how I could implement that into my little ones' learning, but when? It always boils down to time and getting people onboard.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What I did today...

-
Image
Today I went into a classroom as a reliever and ran my own programme. It was with year 7 & 8 students and I set them up to do a one day project. I said to them that today was going to be a little different than their normal school day. They could pick one topic to research, and they could do it all day. Step 1: We completed a brainstorm on our topic answering three questions: What do you already know about your topic?  What would you like to know about your topic?  How is you, finding out this information going to help you, or someone else?  The students came up with some great topics, some decided to focus on helping elephants, some helping endangered turtles, some decided to improve their drawing skills, and others made a vortex air cannon. They were really keen to get stuck straight into finding out more about their topics as soon as they had brainstormed but I made them move on to step 2.  Step 2: Make a plan. We used this sheet, which is one that we developed at m
Read more

The Learning Trap

-
Image
Learning. Many educators see it as something we need to stuff into learners. As some information that the learner is a vessel to be filled with. Many look at teachers as the shovers of stuff into the vessel, or the crafters of learning to hit the most targets at once.  I don't.  I look at learning as something that students need to love. That students will love if just the right combination of environmental elements are met.  If the environmental elements are just right for learning to occur, then it will happen in a much more meaningful and fun way than if it is poured into someone.  Teachers are the creators of the environment. Their purpose in school is to create the traps of learning that students will fall into. Take an example we discussed today as a group. A toy baby is left lying around almost haphazardly in a junior classroom with a towel, and a bowl of water. Play will inevitably lead students towards a discussion of bathing a baby. This is the environmenta
Read more

A Utopian "What if?"

-
I've been reading Peter Gray's book Free to Learn recently, which has made me reflect widely on my last 6 years in the education profession. I have thought about the different schools that I have taught at, and the different experiences and challenges that have lead me to where I am now. Peter gray offers a fresh perspective on school. I'm going to start this blogpost with some quotes from his book.  "[One of the sins of education is] Judging students in ways that foster shame, hubris, cynicism, and cheating. It is not easy to force people to do what they do not want to do."   "We rely now primarily on a system of incessant testing, grading, and ranking of children to motivate them to do their schoolwork."  The system itself has fostered what it has been fighting so long to weed out. The system itself has created a culture of shaming students, ranking students, and making learning a chore. "By the time they are eleven or twelve year
Read more