Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am substitute teaching today for a classroom teacher who teaches high school Biology, on-level and honors.
He was here before leaving his meeting, and told me that there are no actual lesson plans because he doesn't do lessons in class. It is all self paced where they watch his video lectures on line, complete a set of milestones, and all the lab materials and assignments are in the classroom, and they can either do the lectures at home or in class online with their chrome books, and his class periods are learning labs where they come to him for questions.
This is how I learned in high school, but I went online. I've never seen a teacher at an on campus school run their class this way. If I had been able to teach this way when trying to be a middle school teacher, I think I actually could have made it through my internship.
As early as 2nd grade, I remember asking the teacher why she needed to keep giving us more examples and do the work together instead of just letting us do it ourselves, because in my mind then I didn't really understand different learning curves, but still, I would have preferred if we just had a way to teach ourselves the material at our pace and ask the teacher for help instead of having to sit still and listen with one example after another and lecture after lecture plus homework, when I could have just learned it with a couple examples and did the homework in class instead.
The real question is, would most students in all grade levels be capable of learning this way?
If you let the class be more like a college learning lab and make them have to deal with the consequences of surfing the internet instead of doing their labs and fail for not getting the work done, would most of your students still pass?
I just think it's a shame that we cannot allow more freedom in schools for students to choose their own style of learning instead of one teacher up in front of the room talking, as the students who are more independent are suffering as a result.
You would seriously have to have an iron hand for discipline.
Some kids would do well with the setup, many would not either because they need the teacher guidance and interaction, or they can't work on their own unsupervised, or they can't focus without someone guiding them.
We had a, strangely enough, an AP Bio teacher who did that. Never talked to the kids, ever, to explain or guide the lesson, everything was on PowerPoint. His scores were all 1s. He did get national certification.
It made it a bit more difficult for behavior as I noticed later, as some classes had more off-task students. An administrator came in at the end of the day and noticed a girl sitting on a guy's lap and they were snuggling, which I didn't even notice until a she pointed it out as they were doing group work at the time and all socializing. So, I can see how it would be difficult.
However, if the reason we are teaching the way we are is simply to avoid behavior problems and not because it is the best way to learn, that's the wrong reason.
I had that option in high school online, but in return didn't have the option for clubs and sports as I wasn't enrolled in a high school which offered them.
AP scores, 1-5, with 1 being the lowest. Some call that "failing". I don't because the College Board doesn't frame their scores that way. " He" means his students taking the AP Bio test.
Why have schools at all, if you're just going to send kids there to learn on their own? They might as well just stay home to do it, getting up whenever works for them and only taking as much time as they need, doing "school" comfortably in their pajamas, etc.
The whole thing is just like one big study hall? Then what are the teachers being paid to do? Act as babysitters? How odd.
Where is discussion of the material and learning from others' questions and comments? Where is learning to live in society with other people? Where is learning that yes, sometimes you have to go more slowly or quickly than you'd like because you're not the only person there?
The real question is, would most students in all grade levels be capable of learning this way?
No. Older students who are operating at or above grade level are more likely to have the attention spans, reading level, self-direction, and study skills necessary to handle a class like that. Younger students, and those who need additional help, direction, or encouragement, would be unlikely to get much out of that style of instruction. Half of all people are below average. They need more support than a computer and a checklist offers.
It's also really dull, day in and day out. I'm not saying teachers need to put on a dog and pony show for every lesson, but it certainly helps with student engagement and therefore learning if tasks are more interesting and varied.
Why have schools at all, if you're just going to send kids there to learn on their own? They might as well just stay home to do it, getting up whenever works for them and only taking as much time as they need, doing "school" comfortably in their pajamas, etc.
The whole thing is just like one big study hall? Then what are the teachers being paid to do? Act as babysitters? How odd.
Where is discussion of the material and learning from others' questions and comments? Where is learning to live in society with other people? Where is learning that yes, sometimes you have to go more slowly or quickly than you'd like because you're not the only person there?
I agree, why do we even have school in the first place? The reason mainly is so kids have babysitters while their parents are at work anyhow.
The point though, is the teacher was still there and he was giving them content he created and taught via videos, and was there to answer questions and help with assignments. He just wasn't having all the class look at him and pay attention.
We had a class like this in college for remedial Algebra, which I was only taking because I had to be in Pre-Calculus and then Calculus I and II, and it was a prerequisite, but the class wasn't for the purpose of learning Algebra from the ground up, but just covering the content needed for upper level courses for students who needed a refresher. So, that may have been different.
However, by 5th or 6th grade, if they still can't read and write on level, why did they even pass previous grades? I guess that's a question for another time though.
My philosophy is more of the old Thomas Jefferson method of raking a few good leaves out of the rubbish. Sitting through the teacher lecturing made school more difficult for me, because I was not engaged and the learning was boring. It got easier when I went to school online and got a list of tasks to complete by the end of the quarter, and I just did them one by one. I got all A's and a couple B's my last year and half of high school. I wish we could have something like that for other students who don't need unnecessary lectures. However, I realize not everyone can be as smart as I am.
Why have schools at all, if you're just going to send kids there to learn on their own? They might as well just stay home to do it, getting up whenever works for them and only taking as much time as they need, doing "school" comfortably in their pajamas, etc.
The whole thing is just like one big study hall? Then what are the teachers being paid to do? Act as babysitters? How odd...…………..
That's a part of current educational theory promulgated by university researchers who have never taught in a less than college setting, think tanks, the Gates Foundation and Pearson Education.
Teachers are facilitators enabling students to become stakeholders and take ownership of their education (this is the exact verbiage by the way)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
