As my summer courses come to an end, I can look back on all that I have learned, and filter it down to one simple notion: Put the student first!
It sounds simple, I know. But this simple idea has been grossly overlooked throughout our educational system. But if this course has taught me anything, it’s that being an innovative educator is about finding the best and most effective way of reaching your students. Teachers must take a step back and carefully consider their audience. While a teacher’s mastery of a skill is of course a resource, it is not necessarily the only thing to help a student acquire their own skills. It is important to allow students to learn however they learn best, and to demonstrate their mastery of skills in a variety of mediums. I have thoroughly enjoyed this course. Initially, I was a unsure of the topic but was interested nonetheless. After some not so light reading, I started to gain a better understanding of what it means to make sense of something. Then I started to realize how fundamental the concept sense making is to teaching. How could anyone claim to be interested in education, without emphasizing the student(s)? It is more important to understand the student(s) and their perception of the given subject. This concept assisted me in the planning of my prototype design. I started focusing on how students think and rationalize their work. I decided that I would like to have students explore their own metacognition. For example, I would like to explore student blogging and video making. Specifically, encouraging students to record their thoughts, questions, interests, in order to develop their metacognitive skills. I also saw the potential for collaboration, via technology. If students are creating videos of themselves explaining argumentative essays or how to solve math equations, then why not have students share those videos with their peers, and exchange informative feedback. Students could not only develop their metacognitive skills, but also their collaborative skills. All while gaining technological experience! While I still have a lot to work out, I would consider these small steps an accomplishment. Ones that I could not have reached without the outside-of-the-box thinking that 791 is all about.
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AuthorThe best teachers never cease to be students. Archives
December 2017
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