My school is really big into having the children move in groups from station to station, which is great. It not only allows for the teacher to work with small groups, but lets the kids get up and and stretch their legs every 15" or so. Still though it takes time for the children to understand that they are responsible for getting work done when they are at these independent stations. Alot of children can not handle working independently. They still do not comprehend the consequences that arise for not getting their work done, especially younger children. This concept alone is something to be learned let alone the learning which is/was supposed to get done while at the non-teacher center.
We are also involved in the concepts put forth by Baldridge. Basically this philosophy tries to get students to become responsible for their own learning. By setting and displaying goals and by charting progress which is also put on display around the room for the kids to see research indicates that this can be the catalyst which gets the children to comprehend the idea that learning is one's own responsibility.
I would like to know myself though if the fact that classroom achievement is displayed for all to see how it helps or hinders. Do the other children themselves encourage those who lack meeting certain goals/benchmarks (and thus lower the overall average) to get on the ball or if those who are a bit slow bring down the overall average are not known is the class just to assume that they are not as a whole smart enough? Should children think of themselves as "a whole?" Is individualism discouraged?
Would a child who excells have to say that "our class didn't make it this time" because of someone(s) unbeknownst to him brought the overall grade down? Would some sort of pressure be put on the child who is holding the class back? Is that a good thing? If so, how is that pressure to be applied?
I've got alot more to learn about this. Hopefully I'll have some answers to questions before too long.
Wow, Ernie! A lot of interesting thoughts and questions in this post!
ReplyDeleteSo, if you want to find out how students feel about having their work and progress displayed, do you have a plan or design for how you are going to do this?
Although your school/classroom is designed for group work and rotations, it sounds like it is also designed with a focus on individual responsibility. I know many teachers who would say that their schools and classes have the same focus, yet your school seems to be different.
I'm wondering....how is your school/classroom/curriculum designed to bring about this focus? How is it different at your school than at my school?
This week students and teachers have been designing what they think to be a quality teacher and student should be like. We have a figure of what looks like a white ginger-bread man. We have been writing on different parts of his body things we believe make up a responsible person.
ReplyDeleteWe have also written out vision and mission statements as well as a list of goals. Students then voted as to what what words would be included in our statements and what were the most important goals to follow by placing stickers. Some type of graph is then displayed showing how students voted.
It helps students with the concept of graphing and with the sense of community by giving them the idea that their vote counts. When all this is displayed teachers can throughout the year refer to the charts and reinforce to the children what constitutes being a good citizen as they voted on earlier in the year. Hopefully it'll work.