to report that I am on track to reach my goal in this respect. I have not been forceful in inserting unnecessary technology into every lesson. Instead I have been using my daily tools like my SMARTBoard and PC in more efficient ways. Additionally in my coursework I have been challenging myself to be certain that I try to think about new ways to teach my content. Teachers are frequently told not to reinvent the wheel and I am now trying to instead redesign and tweak it.
Many of the scenarios from real classroom teachers in our video series have been helpful in giving me ideas for my own classroom. I am excited to try problem based learning and allow my students to take the reins of their own learning. I believe this will be especially helpful in reaching the various interest and ability levels of each individual student. However I think that PBL may present my largest challenge to reaching my GAME plan's goals. As I expressed in my group discussion I am concerned about being able to create a solid problem for my students to work to answer. Also I need to learn appropriate ways to manage this kind of learning activity.
As far as adjusting my GAME plan, I really think I need to gain more practice and experience with using PBL and planning a comprehensive unit is a perfect way to start. I am already comfortable with project based learning and hope this transition to problem based learning will go smoothly. As I teach more lessons structured this way, I work to monitor and evaluate strengths and weaknesses in this respect and then can adjust my plan accordingly.
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I think it would be beneficial to start out with one small problem for your students to solve. You could start off by asking students to calculate how much food goes wasted for one day and then procede from there. I think it's great that you are comfortable with project based learning. I'm sure it'll be a smooth transition for you. Is your school a school that gives you lots of support with technology.
ReplyDeleteYou make a very important point about using your current technology in more efficient ways. The idea is not to cram as much technology as possible into a lesson, but to use it in such a way that it makes the instruction more relevant and meaningful.
ReplyDeleteTeachers have too much to do without worrying about "reinventing the wheel" as you state. I'm always looking for resources that I can just modify to meet my students' needs. Great post!
Erica,
ReplyDeleteI am lucky that my school is very supportive of technology use. As you may have seen in my previous posts, our county however, can sometimes put up roadblocks.
Susanna,
Thanks for your support! It is just hard to find the time to appropriately modify those lessons. Hopefully my load will lighten a bit in May. ;)