This is what Student-centered Looks Like
Category: Student-centered
Wisconsin’s Early Explorers on Facebook
My overarching theme for this year has been student-centered learning, so putting the focus back on students rather than me talking them through the learning. So as I prepped social studies over the break, I realized that I could not just tell my students about the first explorers in Wisconsin; they had to research it and present. But how to do this without it being another research project with a report attached?
We have just finished a formidable Native American research unit, discussed here, where students took full control of their own learning. As said by my students, this proved to be one of the best experiences for them this year, so I knew there had to be control relinquished to them. I also have very set perimeters for the project because it does have to fit into the information presented in the chapter in social studies book. So students will be creating two separate projects.
The first project will be a simple read and share event, in which the students have been placed into teams (no more than 3 kids) and they will read a sub-section of general information about the Native American tribes in Wisconsin. This mini-project will take one lesson (45 min) for reading and writing (they are learning to not copy others’ words) and one lesson for presentation. By ripping half the chapter apart, students will have to take more control of their learning as they engage in active listening during presentations, and practicing their own public speaking skills.
The second project is the actual research of various historical figures prominent in the exploration of Wisconsin. There are 12 different prominent explorers that the students should learn about. I will therefore go through the time line of the exploration years to provide them with an overview of the time, and then set them off to research. I have checked out netbooks for them to do their research on, however, students can choose to use them or not. Other student choices include:
- Who their learning partner should be?
- Who they would like to research (I ask them to pick 3 and then pick sticks and assign)?
- How are they going to research?
I find the “how” is just as important as the “who”, because in 4th grade, we are just learning how to do actual research. Students have not had a lot of practice and are so used to the teacher printing out various sources, or creating a livebinder. By having a classroom discussion on various forms of research, we are once again handing over the responsibility (and thinking) to the students, so you are facilitating rather than leading.
Students will be asked to present all of their information via the fantastic Facebook Template that has been circulating on Twitter. However, I will be asking them to draw it out by hand rather than on the computer. The reason is two-fold; we have some very artistic students that need an outlet, and we have limited access to computers. So in the end, we will have some fantastic Facebook templates adorning our classroom walls. Timeline will be discussed and determined by the students as well but I foresee about one week’s worth of time is needed.
As for grading, students will be evaluating themselves, and we will discuss what they loved, had difficulty with, and how they would improve upon it. No formal grade will be assigned, as is my style, but students will be asked to read and comment on each other’s work as well, as part of the learning process.
In progress:
I have been meeting with my students and some need a little bit more scaffolding, so I created this direction sheet for them to use. That way they can check off when they find the needed information or if they need to make something up they can.
So You Keep Saying Authentic Learning…
In my last posts, I have thrown out the term “authentic learning” as if it is the new buzzword. Well, for me it is! I am sure others have coined this term before me but this is my definition, my revolution in my classroom, my new mantra for the year.
Authentic learning is what I plan on doing in my room this year. One can argue that all learning is authentic if only applied to the right situation. My problem therefore lies within my own style of teaching that seems to lack moments of relatability. Few are those times when I was able to truthfully tell my students that “this skill you will use one day.” Why is that? We are supposed to be the shapers of the future, right? Everything we do or say in our classrooms should have a bigger purpose. I agree that there are certain building blocks that do not lend themselves easily to authentic learning, but how do we go from that type of knowledge to packets, dioramas (I really hate dioramas) and longwinded spelling sorts?
I am about to start my 3rd year in my room and I finally feel like I know a little bit about the curriculum. I know what the goals are and where the students should be at the end of 4th grade. That allows me to change the journey and the tools we use to get to that point. So here is what I propose to myself: Study the goals and then base learning on getting to that goal, not digging up more worksheets to really make it stick. So, if you want your students to know the difference between a verb and a noun – send them on a scavenger hunt and tell them to film the nouns and verbs they come across. Students need to learn how to research – research something that they would be interested in. You need to teach geometric shapes – find them in your school, count their angles, build your own. Most of all, make it relevant!
I know there will be days where this will simply not be possible, I will hate those days, but recognize them as a necessary evil. There are certain curriculum areas that I cannot create authentic learning experiences for; difference between a linking and helping verb – still thinking about that one. The important thing is that I can still fulfill all of my duties as a teacher but do it in a way that I would have loved to have been taught in, and that I hope my students will remember. I hope to make it meaningful, to help them connect it to their own lives, to help them see what the purpose is and that school is not boring or something to dread. Am I a fool? Probably, but at least I am fool with great aspirations for all.
Do you believe in this type of learning? Can it be done under our standards and requirements? Will my students benefit or will my parents revolt? I will spare no details this fall.
I Am So Sick of Grammar Packets
Part of 4th grade’s curriculum at my school are grammar packets, or some sort of grammar lesson every week to ensure that students know the difference between verbs, nouns, adjectives and so forth. The idea of wrapping the lesson in a packet format meant less time needed to teach; all I had to do was introduce the various exercises and then assign the homework. Students would get a week to finish and then we moved on to the next topic. At the end of the year, after several eye rolls and disheartened moans from students when they realized it was time for grammar, lightning struck. Of course they hate grammar packets – I do too.
You see, packets can be fine when we need something to grade. However, if I am looking for a true learning experience, I cannot just assign something and then leave the students to their own devices. Learning must be shared, not handed out with a deadline. One student actually loved the packet; it was manageable, she knew that if she spelled everything correctly she would receive a good grade and most of the stuff she remembered from years prior. Some students saw them as a dreaded chore that they lumbered through and were happy with the grade they got. And then there were the kids that really needed to learn the grammar. Those kids lost the packet, would not realize they had lost it until the night before and would therefore hand in a half-finished product sometimes with pages missing, usually with the wrong answers because they had not understood the directions and had had no one to turn to for help. Those kids, the ones that really needed to learn, were not being given any favors by me or the packet.
Another aspect of the packet was the sheer number of points that I assigned to them; after all if a students was going to slave away over 5 pages of work then the points needed to be a reflection of that. Again, great for the students who had no problems with the topic or had help at home. Detrimental for the not so fortunate students. We don’t give a separate grammar grade in 4th grade, we lump it under writing. And yes, understanding and using correct grammar is a vital step to being an accomplished writer, but the point value was so high that the packets counted toward a bigger piece of their grade than their actual writing. One student who was a very creative writer and used verbs and nouns correctly, could not identify them in a packet, even with help. But his ears told him how a sentence should sound so how do you grade that?
So under the constraints of having to teach grammar, I started to ponder, then how? We have a grammar book available which is kind of like the packet, except in a book form. So I knew that the book would not be my solution. The book does offer one thing though which is what the topics are that need to be taught, so that’s a help. A solution came form an article I read, which I regretfully did not bookmark, in which the teacher described handing digital cameras to her students and having them search for nouns, verbs etc throughout the school. Now that is hands-on-learning. While not every grammar topic lends itself to the digital image – difference between an action verb and a helping verb as an example- this represents a start for me. A new idea where students are assigned a quest and they have to represent their answer somehow to their fellow students. I set up the learning, we discuss it and then with scaffolding, off they go. I only have my own digital camera but I am hoping to write grants for more or to come up with other methods for teaching the fundamentals of writing. Using Wordia and Voki keeps popping into my thoughts as well. Anyone out there with other thoughts or ideas? I refuse to believe I am the only one trying to escape packets.
Pernille Ripp 