The Importance of Thinking Critically

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." ~Albert Einstein

In my honest opinion the importance of structure and political correctness trumps the necessity for students to think critically, however there is an enormous call for such reform. How can students use higher order thinking skills when today's teachers are becoming scripted robots, losing so much of there own creative control? That doesn't make a heck of a whole lot of sense to me but I will go on in this blog to explain the things that do.

As I teach my students, especially in the subjects of writing, science, and social studies, my goal is for them look at all possible sides of the issue. I want for them to seek reason with regards to their own passionate opinions, however I stress a huge importance in finding out why it is that the opposition chooses the alternative. Such understanding will enhance and grow and better defend prior notions, or perhaps shift the student into a fresh mindset. That requires me to work harder in planning so I can present multiple angles to each story, and then step back and allow for debate, and a demand for evidence.

My goals are to continue to have students inquire about the world and realize that everybody is very different from themselves and their families. I wish to encourage them to think fast and creatively in order to meet difficult challenges. I want to encourage intelligent dialogue between themselves and those of differing views, because it's conversation that creates change and better understanding.

Social Networking & Favorite Resources

This week we have learned about social networking which is a new concept to me. I really wish I had known about such a thing when I was a grade manager and trying to set up something similar for my group of eight teachers in fourth grade. I like Diigo and will certainly use it from now on and spread the knowledge.

As far as the assignment, it has been a little tedious finding over 60 sites. However I have come across some great resources in the process. I really, really like the sites that have countless links of games and activities for all subject areas. Specifically, Sheppard Software, and Enchanted Learning are my favorites. These links can be used by teacher, student, or parent. They have activities that are great for interactive white boards that can be displayed by the teacher to enhance lessons, as well as linked from school Intranet sites or a Moodle that can be accessed by the individual learner. I just really like the multi-functionality of these.

Water Conservation Project Modifications

I've spoken with our kind professor and we are going to have to work out a place for me to implement my project. She also mentioned that I would probably have to make some big modifications with regards to the amount of time that I can do it since I have to essentially borrow students.

One idea that I will certainly do is have the students work in groups for the presentation piece. For time purposes, that would eliminate having to use up an hour a day for an entire week in order for the students to make the presentations. Having about five groups could easily be knocked out in one hour of one day. This would also enhance the creativity and work of the project since it would require the students to synergize and collaborate ideas and research in order to come up with an insightful presentation.

This is a pretty tough posting this week. When and if I come up with any more ideas I'll add them to my comments, or piggy back off of any that I receive.

PBL and Assessment

I would imagine that one of the greatest challenges that faces the teacher that wants to begin using Project Based Learning (PBL) is trying to find a way to grade the students. I know from personal experience that the public schools are constantly breathing down teachers necks for lots and lots of grades. Give that teacher between 25-28 students and that means he or she will be spending every evening grading instead of using that time to come up with excellent lesson plans. Such is the dilemma.

I can't say that I have a solution to this but I do really like using rubrics to assess projects. I was introduced to rubistar.4teachers.org back during my college days and I continued to use this resource in my own class. This rubric generator is incredibly easy to use and has ready made rubrics for every imaginable subject and they can be altered however you see fit. You can add your own benchmarks and criteria, it's quite amazing.

I know that rubrics are what we talked about in class as being the best way to assess projects, but I was wondering what some of the other ways may be. I do recall some of my teachers that used to have grading sheets with lines of things that they'd be looking for:

3.) Science experiment display is appealing and well put together.

(10 points available) __8__

I remember sheets filled with lines like that and the teacher would just decide how many points the student should earn. Those didn't give enough information or reasoning behind the graders decision. Unlike this old method a rubric is clear, quick, and fair.

The McGrath Articles

I sincerely apologize for such a late post. Due to class being cancelled last week and the fact that a Week 6 list of instructions has never surfaced on the EDIT 7500 site I didn't even know what to blog about. I did look at all the others in the class and saw that people blogged about their project, cool tools, and the readings. So I've decided to throw in a few opinions about the readings, more specifically the articles on PBL.

I have enjoyed the short articles by Diane McGrath. She offers a very detailed overview for getting started and then working your way into a routine of using PBL in the classroom. It is true that many teachers are extremely hesitant at first to begin such a radical change due to a fear that there won't be enough time to get in all the rigorous state standards, and that tests scores will drop, if they don't personally hit everything while standing up in front of the class.

The teacher standing in front of the class is quickly becoming a thing of the past, however. It worked in the last century, but the students of today as a whole prefer doing over watching. It should be the teachers goal to find meaningful centers and projects that get students talking, finding, writing, designing, and developing on their own. McGrath mentions that when given such empowerment, the students will take that work with them and do it a great deal outside of the classroom because it's theirs. I found that pretty fascinating as I pictured the student half asleep waiting for the bell to ring while the teacher is explaining the homework assignment they'll forget to do versus the student in a group of four that's collectively coming up with a list of things that they need to get from home so they can work on their project together tomorrow.