The combination of videos and articles that were selected for "thing 4" confirmed my thoughts that our students learn differently than those of 5, 10 or more years ago. The challenge that I (and several other educators) face in the classroom is, "How do we teach these children?" The only technology that I have in my classroom is a computer. I would love to engage my students by incorporating interactive websites and allowing them to explore math in a nontraditional way, but it is hard without the means to do so.
Another obstacle that face is the curriculum that we are expected to cover. I agree completely with the ideas of the Time magazine regarding the textbooks in Sweden and various other countries. I feel our math textbooks are filled with so much information that it is hard for our students to master the important facts that are needed. Students are resourceful, if they need to figure something out they can look it up on the Internet. For the majority of concepts, remote memorization is a thing of the past. I try to explain to my students that as long as they know how to find the answers they will be able to function outside of the classroom.
Staying with the idea of curriculum, several of the articles viewed compared 20th century learners to 21st century learners and one that stuck out to me was the idea of curriculum. In the 20th century, curriculum was irrelevant and meaningless to students. In the 21st century curriculum needs to be connected to student interest, experiences, talents and the real world. I find that the standards set for our students today are still similar to that of the 20th century in that it is meaningless to our students. There are certain topics in the curriculum that I try to show relevance to the real world. However, so much of it seems irrelevant, yet I still teach it because of standardized tests.
This is something that I struggle with on a daily basis and promise to change each school year. Yet, I still fall into the same teaching methods - lectures, notes, tests, etc. It is my hope that upon completion of this course, I will have some tools that will help me change my teaching to accommodate my students' needs.
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A long time ago, I remember telling my students they don't have to be "know-it-alls" but they do have to know how to "find-it-all."
ReplyDeleteThere are so many amazing ways for you to use the Internet and to grow personally and professionally, don't worry that you won't be able to use these tools immediately with your students. Hopefully someday, but as you pointed out, we're not there yet.