Blog Post #11 - What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From These Teachers?

Back to the Future

Brian Crosby is doing incredible things with his classes. I was completely shocked to hear that the majority of his fourth grade students didn't know what city they lived in. That could be incredibly discouraging for a teacher, but he didn't let that hold him or his students back. Instead, he gave them every opportunity to become engaged in their learning. The main thing that I took from this video was to never stop looking for opportunities that could make a lesson exciting. Throughout this course, it has become clear to me that PBL is the best, most effective way to teach. However, I probably would have stopped at crushing the coke can or sending the tissue paper into the sky. Mr. Crosby continued with his lessons. He didn't stop with one project or one cool introduction into the lesson. He even incorporated other subjects into this lesson. That was so smart to me. Learning about the earth's atmosphere already had the attention of his class. There was no need to find another "need to know" or attention grabber. He simply needed to gear his writing projects more towards his science lesson.

Blended Learning Cycle

Paul Anderson is applying a Blended Learning Cycle in his science class. In this method, students go through a series of steps throughout the lesson. They cannot advance to the next step until they have "mastered" the one they are on. The steps are laid out as the acronym QUIVERS (QUestion, Investigation/Inquiry, Video, Elaboration, Review, Summary Quiz). What I found most interesting was that Mr. Anderson sits down with each student during the Review to check their understanding before they move on to the summary quiz. Getting that kind of attention from a teacher is rare, and I'm sure it has had a huge effect on his students' learning. This is an interesting approach. I'm interested to try it out with other age groups and other subjects.

Making Thinking Visible

In this video, Mark Church gets his students thinking about the origin of the human species. They are asked to get into groups and discuss this topic, then create a headline that sums up the question. That is a great idea in itself, but I like his plan for the future even better. He plans to continue with the unit for the next two weeks and then go back and look at their headlines. He will ask them to create new headlines, and then discuss how their thinking has changed.

Sam Pane 4th Grade

This was such a fun project! I'm interested to know what program he used for the comic book creator. You can tell the students enjoyed this project by looking at the show of hands when Mr. Pane asked for a volunteer to share their comic. I can't remember a time when an entire class was eager to share out loud! I also really like his idea of a Gallery Walk. This allowed for a peer review, but it left the option open for them to look at anyone's work. The peer reviews I remember doing always started something like "Pass your paper to the person behind you..." This was a great way to teach fourth graders about digital responsibility.

Project Based Learning

This is an interesting idea. I completely agree that there are many instances where literature and history overlap. To fully understand most literary pieces, we have to have an understanding of what was happening in the world at that time. If the time period being covered in both classes overlap, then combining these two courses is a no-brainer. We have seen over and over again that computer/technology courses can be integrated with almost any subject. I really like this idea. It would help me personally to relate to both the literature and the history being studied.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program

Roosevelt Elementary School has taken it upon themselves to use project based learning throughout the entire school. That is an incredible undertaking, and I'm sure it requires a lot of work. There are some excellent benefits to a program like this. Project Based Learning is a great way to gauge students' understanding of a topic. Oral presentations help to curb the fear of public speaking at a young age. Project Based Learning also gives opportunity for curriculum integration. Curriculum integration is discussing a topic in more than one class or subject. This is the best way to show real world applications. One lesson or idea can be relevant across several different disciplines. My favorite part of this video was the parent interviews. It is incredible to see parents who are so excited about what and how their children are learning. Many times it is hard to gain the support of parents when trying something new. Roosevelt Elementary School is doing a great job implementing PBL across the board.