In today’s class, I learned that the teacher shouldn’t be the only giver of knowledge. While this concept seems a bit obvious, as a teacher, it’s easy to forget. For this reason, I have created a little rubric for myself. This rubric contains elements that I make sure all my lessons have. My most important point: students help me teach. My best lessons have been the ones where kids were a part of the ‘teaching’ of the material. I love having students come up and help me solve a problem; I find they’re much more interested when I ‘need their help’. Sometimes I have the class as a whole help me solve a problem, or sometimes I call on individual children to come up to the front. These are the best lessons! Kids often think in similar ways. Therefore, having kids help and teach each other is very valuable.
With this overall thought, comes another idea. Teachers have to know their students. We need to know what is too hard or too easy for them. If kids fall in either of these categories, you come across a dangerous zone: boredom. This concept can mean different things. It can mean that the student is completely lost and behind, or it can mean that it’s way too easy for the student. Now, some questions come to mind, “What are some things teachers can do to keep students engaged and learning when a classroom has so many different levels? What can a teacher do besides simply have more ‘paper’ work for kids that need further challenging?”
As I mentioned earlier, for classroom practice, it’s important to let students be teachers too. They can offer different perspectives to subject matters. Give them a problem to teach to the class, or have the entire class ‘help’ the teacher solve a problem. Teachers also need to know her students. Who is bored? Who is lost and confused? Now that I know this, what should I do to challenge my students? These are all questions which teachers will constantly ask themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment