With a visit to the ISTE, there are two standards that I would like to keep up with. The first comes from the student learning and creativity section. This standard states that I will promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness. I feel that I meet this in my lessons since that is what I expect from my students. I try to teach them to think outside of the box and come up with ideas that they can build on. Being creative helps when a student grows up as well. They can think on their own and come up with solutions to problems that they may encounter in their daily life.
Another standard that comes to mind is engaging students in real world issues and solving authentic problems. I have a fun time doing this with the students. I try to get them to think like they would when the get older and expose them to some of the ways of the world and how things work. Some do quite well with this, while others don't understand much at all.
Goals: I would like to try to get more student interaction in the classroom while talking about ideas and thinking in abstract ways. I feel that I do most of the talking and give many of the ideas that are discussed. If students put forth more effort, I think it will benefit them in the long run.
Action: I will make it mandatory for students to engage in the lesson. Putting them in groups might allow for more interaction between students since they might feel more comfortable. This will help those who have ideas communicate with others who don't to help them out. Sometimes it is hard to come up with ideas at first until you hear a few to go off of.
Monitor: I will have to take a minute at the end of the class to write down on paper for future reference how the class went. Did the group work pan out or should the students work on their own? I will have to compare and contrast how the period went and go from there.
Evaluate: Looking back at my notes, I will have to decide whether or not I have met my goal for the lesson. If I had more student interaction while the lesson not going as well as I would have wanted might not be a bad thing. At least I would get students to participate more and that is a part of what I wanted. Not everything can be perfect, so I will settle for what I get.
Information retrieved from the National Educational Standards For Teachers (NETS-T)http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf..
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Hi Phil,
ReplyDeleteBoy, do I agree with you on the creativity factor. It is such an important part of our lives, especially when we're growing up and we have everything to look forward to. I also like your idea of introducing real world issues into the classroom and getting students to think these situations out and come up with possible solutions.
I think a huge mistake that a lot of teachers make is not giving their students enough credit. Even though I teach older students (high school and university), I'm shocked when they tell me that their teachers don't engage them, don't speak to them about real life stuff. That is one of the things I do in almost every class. No matter what the topic is, I try to bring it to a place where they can relate to it directly, or bring it to a place that they can actually follow and are interested by. It could be by telling them a personal anecdote, by mentioning a news story, by asking them about their weekend... it could be so many things.
Sadly, a lot of my colleagues seem stuck in the same place they've been in for years. They don't innovate, they don't evolve, they are so far removed from their students that they don't even know half of their names or remember them when the semester is over. They seem to think that getting close to students and treating them like thinking human beings is a bad thing, and I think it's the complete opposite. After all, in the classroom, they're the ones that matter, not us... right?
Keep up the good work.
Phil,
ReplyDeleteI do not think you are the only teacher in this boat. Student engagement is a battle for a lot of secondary teachers, in my opinion. However, I think the GAME plan you have come up with is an excellent idea and a great starting point. I will be anxious to keep up with your posts to hear how it goes.
I think you have an awesome idea of zoning in on real world issues. Often times you will get the question, "When we will ever use this in our lives?" The more we can revolve math around real world problems, I think we will see an automatic improvement with student engagement. Good luck with implementing your GAME plan!