Possible Driving Question: How can I provide my students more opportunities to apply what they have learned in a real world setting? Currently I teach two courses of 7th grade Accelerated English Language arts, one course of 6th grade AVID (a college prep ellective) and one course of ELD3D (a support class for English Learners). The school where I teach has fully embraced the Project Based Learning model. Many of my students respond well to the PBL model and as a teacher, I too find the process both educationally beneficial and innovative. What I find most appealing about this method of teaching, is how it requires students to solve complex problems through the use of 21st century skills to create a public product. Take for example our current project: "Antisocial" Over the last month, my students have been conducting research on the effects of social media on the development of social skills. A large component of this project is students working to gather strong and relevant evidence they believe will help support their claims. Ultimately, students will need to incorporate their findings in both of their final products: An arugmentative essay and a public service announcement. This is where my driving question comes in. Instead of asking myself, "What did my students learn?" I should be asking myself, "What can my students do with what they have learned?" My driving question focuses on just that. The outcome of any project is to allow students an opportunity to apply what they have learned in the real world. Therefore, I want to pay special attention to the "product" phase of our current, and future projects. More specifically, I want to focus on improving the frequency and quality with which my students apply their new found skills in the real world. What might this look like? Rethinking what students do with their finished products for a start. Too often I have watched my students present amazing speeches and presentations to their classmates and peers and wished for a way to get them out into the real world. Taking students beyond the classroom, to the source of their inquiries. Perhaps inviting more relevant figures into our classroom to share in and inhance our learning experiences. At the very least publishing student work online. I will continue to explore this inquiry further, and as always, apply what I have learned.
3 Comments
Nancy Jaminet
2/14/2017 06:21:19 pm
Hi Jimmy. Love the photos and quotes on your site!
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2/22/2017 10:00:28 pm
You website is so related to your interests and our quest.I enjoy having my students working together teaching each other what they have learned and develop way that this skill would relate to a real world application.
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Dan Parker
4/2/2017 08:09:25 am
The lesson you are doing with social media is very cool. To take a topic so meaningful to students today and use as part of your curriculum makes it really relevant. I think your driving question reflects that same mentality.
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