Questions I Would Love Students to Answer. (Or, maybe just a rant on my part.)

Questions I would love to have students answer...

Why does your calculator disappear before every math and science class?

Why do you leave your book, pen, pencil, notebook, jacket, lunch bag, in my classroom everyday at the end of class?

Why do you stand in the middle of the hallway, and look at me like I'm crazy when I try to walk down the hall?

Why do you congregate for discussions at the top or bottom of a stairway?

Why must you slam your locker door to get it to closed?

Why do you close the door as you enter the building, without looking back to see if someone else may be trying to get in?

How come you know when the bell rings to the exact second, but can't understand time limits on quizzes, tests or labs?

Who cleans up after you in your own home?

Can I come to your house and dismantle the faucets and gas lines in your kitchen or bathroom?

Why do you drink less than a quarter of your bottle of water before you leave it in my classroom?

Why can't you ask a teacher if they need assistance when they are trying to balance a stack of papers, their computer bag, umbrella, coffee cup, while trying to get their keys out to unlock the classroom door?

Why do you jiggle the handle on a locked door or bang on it instead of walking over to check if the other door is open?

Is the empty water bottle so heavy, that you cannot walk the extra five feet to the recycle bin and must throw it in the trash can?

Do you you not realize that every quiz is difficult if you not have prepared?

Also, every quiz is easy for me, because I wrote it!!!!

Why can't you have your homework prepared to turn in when you arrive at class: with your name on it, stapled and organized?

Why do you tell me as the bell rings all of your excuses for not having your homework instead of emailing the night before?

Can I come and touch, move, take, misplace everything on your desk at your home?

Have you not figured out that the things I repeat several times might be important?

I would love to read your additions to this list of rants...

Born to Learn Blog

The Born to Learn blog contains a series of short vimeo clips concerning the nature of learning.
These videos touch on many important aspects of why students find difficulty in today's classroom.

Our brains are hardwired to seek out learning from the understanding of the big picture to then put together an understanding of how all of the details fit.  However, in an attempt to meet expectations of high stakes testing and demand for grades and control of classroom management, many classrooms today are based upon rote learning, scripted lessons and formulaic teaching.  Value is not placed upon the process of learning but instead is focused on finding correct answers, to take a test and get a grade.  To little time is spent in problem solving and participation in the learning, while most time is spent in repetitious and methodical rote learning.

Like anything learning is about being in the moment.  The best time to learn is when our brains are open, willing and able to comprehend the material in a means acceptable to our past knowledge and current abilities. We actually learn best when we are challenged to stretch our minds without fear of failure nor artificial constraints.

We learn best when we are allowed to model the processes in style similar to the moments of play we enjoyed as a child, no matter what our age.  We desire the interactive nature of play to understand how things fit. It is important for us in the learning process to see others engaged in the process and model what we see.

For more from Born to Learn  http://vimeo.com/user6241489 

 

Partners and Groups

When students pair up for activities, discussions, peer editing or labs, it is very difficult to keep students on track when they only work with their friends or those they are most comfortable.  Creating variety in grouping students is vital to a classroom but can be time consuming.

One method I use is a partner sheet. I create a sheet with 6, 8, 10 items that are relevant to the subject or even the specific topic we are studying.  I have images and words for each item on the sheet along with a space for a name.  I try to put these on cardstock so that they can be kept and used for the entire year.
An example of a simple machine sheet I use in physics is below....

I have students choose a partner for each of the items on the card.  Each student signs their partners card and their partner signs their card.  When I need students to partner up, I will tell them to get together with their pulley partner. Students check their cards and move to the students they signed up with as pulley partners.  I can change partners in an instant by simply asking students to switch to their wheel partner, and so on...

By creating three or four of these cards throughout the year, I can have a variety of groupings at any time.  English teachers can create cards with the characters from a novel, ie. "Move to your Holden Caufield partner."  In Spanish it could be vocabulary words. In Math it could be math symbols.  The options are unlimited. 

To increase variety in grouping, I have guidelines like, you can only ask one person from your current table to sign your card, or you must get a partner from each row of the classroom. I remind students to keep these cards in their notebook so that we can use throughout the year.  They can also be useful to trigger a quick review of material throughout the year.