This week, I read the second half of Ayers and Alexander-Tanner's comic book,
To Teach. There were many sections of the text that resonated with me. One in particular was on page 70, "I want children to explore the world in order to take meaning from it and to make sense of it. I'm not interested in their feeding on predigested materials; I want them to get right up next to what they're studying, to touch it and smell it." This description led me to ponder about the importance of making authentic learning experiences for students. Rather than having students read statistics about a war in a textbook, students could read a memoir from a survivor or analyze a film. If possible, students could even hear from a veteran guest speaker.
Students are far more likely to remember the war in this case and even question whether or not war is the right answer after seeing the repercussions.
Another good point that resonated with me this week was the importance of knowing your students and challenging the status quo. In Chapter 6, the teacher is torn between following the small-group procedures and allowing his students to work together. Despite being told to keep students separate, the teacher still decided to "shake things up" (92). This reminded me of my current experience at school since I have classes that are grouped based on ability. I also have tiered group that were arranged based on reading level. I am supposed to use the same grouping frequently in class, but I myself see the benefit of working together as a whole-group and using heterogeneous grouping within the classroom. I also fear that labels will lead students down the path of self-fulfilling prophecy.
Hi Carina-
ReplyDeleteI found those questions on pages 70-71 to be helpful to think about what is important in our classrooms. I think you give a great example of how we need to make sure that learning is authentic for students and how we can push those limits to help student learning. It also goes along with the idea of "Is work in my classroom pursued to its far limits?" (p. 71) and whether students are being challenge or if the knowledge is just being skimmed across.
Carina,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what you're saying on both counts and I think they go hand in hand. I think in order for us to create authentic learning experiences within our classrooms, we must know and understand our students and their needs within the space.