After reading the essay, Why School?, written by Will Richardson, I am starting to think about my own teaching practices. Richardson is calling for a reform in schools as he watches his son grow up in a system that truly might not be making him the a master learner. I am going to change all my test questions after reading that assessments need to ask questions that searching the web could not answer. Standardized Tests do not measure a students skill of being a learner. With Common Core and Smarter Balance Testing, I am interested in seeing how these assessments will measure students analytical skills as opposed to their recall skills. Clearly, my own assessments will challenge my students differently then these standardized tests by being more meaningful and require a real world application. I agree completely with Richardson that reform needs to take place in how students are tested any how they demonstrate their proficiency.
In reading the six relearning ideas for educators, there are some that I can implement in my practices right away. Sharing everything is something that I am going to start this year. I am excited to start creating for my and my students a professional online presence. I want students everywhere to benefit from my practices that I know are working. I never thought that other educators would care to see what I am doing in a classroom, but I need to conquer that fear and start posting online. Additionally, as I am preparing my students of the 21 century, they need to have a scholarly online portfolio that follows them. I am eager to share this with my students because they will see the importance of online citizenship. Another relearning idea that I would like to add to my practice is doing real work for real audiences. I am a real person and love having students turn work into me, but now I know that is not enough. I teach World History, I want my student to collaborate with student's around the world or have their projects viewed by local, national and international communities. These are the people my students need to learn to interact with and I plan on being the leader in taking them there.
Some of the relearning ideas from the essay are a little overwhelming. I see the value in them, but I also recognize that I will struggle implementing in my practices right away. First, is the discovery portion. I strongly stand in the belief that great teaching practices are not when a teacher lectures for 3 hours and sends the student home, that one that fosters collaboration and meaningful questioning. However, I was amazing by the example that Richardson gives about High Tech High. The kind of planning and preparation that those instructions did both with their own content and cross content must have taken an extreme amount of time and trail and error. Some questions that come to mind are: Do the teachers have adequate time to plan with each other? and, How are students who do not show competency in this project addressed? I would love to incorporate more cross content projects that would result in a published book, but I do not know where to began and that is where my struggle with this relearning idea lies.
In reading the six relearning ideas for educators, there are some that I can implement in my practices right away. Sharing everything is something that I am going to start this year. I am excited to start creating for my and my students a professional online presence. I want students everywhere to benefit from my practices that I know are working. I never thought that other educators would care to see what I am doing in a classroom, but I need to conquer that fear and start posting online. Additionally, as I am preparing my students of the 21 century, they need to have a scholarly online portfolio that follows them. I am eager to share this with my students because they will see the importance of online citizenship. Another relearning idea that I would like to add to my practice is doing real work for real audiences. I am a real person and love having students turn work into me, but now I know that is not enough. I teach World History, I want my student to collaborate with student's around the world or have their projects viewed by local, national and international communities. These are the people my students need to learn to interact with and I plan on being the leader in taking them there.
Some of the relearning ideas from the essay are a little overwhelming. I see the value in them, but I also recognize that I will struggle implementing in my practices right away. First, is the discovery portion. I strongly stand in the belief that great teaching practices are not when a teacher lectures for 3 hours and sends the student home, that one that fosters collaboration and meaningful questioning. However, I was amazing by the example that Richardson gives about High Tech High. The kind of planning and preparation that those instructions did both with their own content and cross content must have taken an extreme amount of time and trail and error. Some questions that come to mind are: Do the teachers have adequate time to plan with each other? and, How are students who do not show competency in this project addressed? I would love to incorporate more cross content projects that would result in a published book, but I do not know where to began and that is where my struggle with this relearning idea lies.