This past year at Lochearn Elementary School we have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about our practice of teaching.
Metacognitive Pedagogy
Changing teacher practice will improve student results. We all need to be learning and growing in our practices.
Meta-Analysis of Metacognitive Pedagogy....Now that's a mouthful!
ReplyDeleteIt is a different reality being connected by the 3G network and all the other networks out there, isn't it? When my iphone stopped working yesterday, I strangely felt disconnected to my world. It was a pretty bizarre feeling. But it made me wonder if I had grown up with all of this technology and had an iphone as a teenager, how connected I would feel to my world. It was such an interesting moment (well evening). I wonder if that is how our students feel?
In "Understanding the Digital Generation," Ian Jukes et al, discuss how our schools need to undergo a transformation.
He uses a powerful quote on page 48 that made me wonder how we can wrap our brains around the transformation that needs to happen in education:
"For more tan 100 years much complaint has been made of the unmethodical way in which schools are conducted, but it is only within the last 30 years that any serious attempt has been made to find a remedy for this state of things and with what results? Schools remain the same.
I think as we engage in this "cultural revolution" and become participants in the online world, we can begin to understand how to reach our students. What do you think?
This thought took me to youtube where I found this powerful video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&feature=related
You might find the author of this clip, Michael Wesch, pretty interesting. He is a professor at a university in the States and had his students research youtube. They did an ethnography. It was pretty powerful. Here is a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mwesch#p/u/8/tYcS_VpoWJk
Small steps.....
"If Walls could talk" what would they say about how kids learn - I think they would say kids need more time to talk together to collaborate and jiggle each others thoughts and learnings. A.
ReplyDeleteYes, for sure! They need to be "engaged."
ReplyDeleteI like how you said they need time to "collaborate and jiggle each others thoughts and learnings" and I think that is the power in the way PLT's are structured. As teachers, we need to jiggle each other's thoughts and learnings so that we can improve our practice so that we can continue to make a difference in the lives of children.
Benjamin Barber says the question to ask is not whether you are a success or failure but whether you are a learner or not.
ReplyDeleteHow do we get students and teachers to the "aha" moments that engage them in learning? - I think working with teachers in a mentoring situation where you sit at a table and have deliberate thoughtful conversations about teacher practice can lead to "aha' moments that in turn lead to improved teaching and improved student learning.