I used to organize all of my kids resources for them. I would spend time getting websites together and selecting reliable sources. I would provide them with a topic to “research” and then give them the sites to look through. Then? I would tell them to “make a PowerPoint” on their own, while some kids would read quietly and they’d take turns using the computer. Switching when I said to. I asked all the questions. I kept everyone quiet and orderly. I managed them. After they made a PowerPoint, I would load them all onto the class server and kids would take turns reading their slides to their classmates. Every. Single. Line.
Now? I teach different. It’s about kid’s thinking. Kids are asking, “What sources are most reliable? What do I need to know? How can I solve this?” I see kids evaluating websites, analyzing tools to use, developing collaboration skills as they discuss, compromise, and share learning throughout our room. I hear kids making choices, exploring topics, and building on each other’s questions. Kids are troubleshooting technology, putting photos into projects, sharing programs, and using a variety of resources, tools, and methods to achieve their goals.
Sometimes ‘different’ can be scary. It can seem like visiting an unfamiliar place and taking a risk that makes you feel completely out of your comfort zone. But, sometimes? Different leads to a new place that is so worth it.
March 1, 2013 at 2:18 pm
Krissy- This post really hit home! I’m also a G&T teacher and I have a research course that I teach grades 6-8. I too have my students generating their own higher-level questions and allow them to chose their presentation method. I love to see the different Prezi projects, art projects, videos and even the Power Point projects at the end of the marking period. But, I do have a question for you… My students are soooo quiet while working. Because they’re researching independently, it’s natural that the room would be quiet, but I sometimes feel that I’m only there as a chaperone and they don’t need my help! How do you encourage interaction among the students and how do you provide “teaching moments” instead of just being a room monitor?
March 4, 2013 at 11:38 pm
Sheri: I try to make sure the projects I design require collaboration. Shared technology, shared tasks, and questions answered in student discussions help them learn to rely on each other. Also, I try to make sure I listen carefully to their thoughts and interject my own questions to cause their thinking to go deeper. I don’t feel like any of this is something that is easy to do overnight, but I can see how much my students have grown since I have stepped more and more toward the facilitator role! It’s SO worth it!
March 4, 2013 at 6:33 am
I am in a teacher ed program in which we are urged to think outside of the box and also set high expectations for our students. It sounds like while managing them before “teaching different” worked, it wasn’t setting the bar as high as the students were capable of reaching. Have you noticed an improvement in the finished results of their projects with the new method of putting more of the work and research on their shoulders? Also, I see that you teach G&T students. How might you know if a standard classroom would be capable of a model such as this?
March 4, 2013 at 11:41 pm
Thanks for commenting. I have taught this way in a few different settings – including in a standard classroom of 27 students where I had a range of learning disabilities, average, gifted, and some of those students were dual-diagnosis. The beauty of being the facilitator is that the kids rely on each other, communicate, collaborate, and really support each other’s thinking. Not as tutor’s, but as interacting members of a learning community. Students now take so much more ownership in their work. It’s their project, not mine, and that really causes them to dig deeper and take more responsbility. It’s been a wonderful transition. Even though it wasn’t always easy, I keep working at it, even now.
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