Blog #7

Help Students Discover How Ideas and Skills are Useful in this World.

This felt very important to me because every child who has ever gone to school has thought, "When am I ever going to use what I am learning about right now." Students will be much more engaged, and consequently learn much more if they can see the value in it. I loved how Mr. Johnson created assignments where the students were to design and submit this design for construction of a ship’s hull to a fictitious company. This was a brilliant idea to let the students get a glimpse of how the real-world businesses make decisions. I will definitely use that idea in my classroom. I can see me using it in Math, or Science just like Mr. Johnson.

Use a Variety of Rubrics to Guide Quality

I want my students to always have clear understanding of every assignment so they will never have to guess what is expected. Using a variety of rubrics will make it easy to refer to while working on assignments. There are always students who don’t pay close attention or just forget details about what is required in assignments. I plan to go over the rubric at the beginning of a project, and then give a copy as needed to students or groups of students so they can easily know what is expected in order for them to succeed. Task specific rubrics and work habit rubrics both are important for me as a teacher to grade on readiness, and even how the student feels they are doing on an assignment.

Become Computer Savvy

I always say I know enough about computers to know I don’t know everything. But I also am not afraid to learn how to use the computer to make life easier. Using a Webquest would have been a fun extension after the students had researched the buoyancy in Mr. Johnson’s classroom. They could’ve seen other diagrams which would’ve enhanced their understanding as well.

There are endless resources on the internet, and with proper guidance and supervision, students can even shape their own inquiries. Computers are only going to become more and more a part of our everyday lives, and the more I can teach my students how to benefit from them, the better off they will be in their future learning. I don't want them to be weary, or afraid of technology. It is such a powerful tool to be harnessed.