To introduce this, let me first say that I am an Elementary Education major, and I learned a lot about our current school system and some helpful innovations it could use through one of my classes. If you are interested what I am about to say, please read Breaking through the Learning Barrior by George Nielson because that is where my inspiration came from.
In the way schools are set up now, a teacher lectures in front of the class and hands out homework where you are supposed to work quietly and write the answers you think your teacher wants you to know. Then you regurgitate the information for a test, and you forget everything at the end of the year. This is a very inefficient process because students never actually learn anything, and any child who does not work well with lectures and quiet work lags behind. These children are labeled as “at risk” learners and believe themselves to be stupid. Everyone else thinks they are the most intelligent beings on the planet and learn just as much as the “stupid” kids, absolutely nothing.
What I propose is this. We should teach in such a way that students practice newly learned skills as we are teaching them. We teach them why it is important to learn about the topic, teach them basic information, and have them discover on their own through practical, hands-on activities. For those students who prefer activities to lectures (who doesn’t?) this will help them to learn and succeed by learning about the same topics in new ways. This also helps all students to retain information after the year is over and actually use their knowledge in the real world.
I personally have had experience changing lesson plans from lecture style to this style of hands-on learning, and it is not that difficult. Some may argue that it is more difficult to manage a classroom this way, but I think it would help students by engaging them in learning while getting out their wiggles in productive activities, so in reality, this helps to manage a classroom. This is not that difficult. We just need teachers to be on board with this and be willing to change their ways slightly to accommodate more students and make their learning matter.
What I propose is this. We should teach in such a way that students practice newly learned skills as we are teaching them. We teach them why it is important to learn about the topic, teach them basic information, and have them discover on their own through practical, hands-on activities. For those students who prefer activities to lectures (who doesn’t?) this will help them to learn and succeed by learning about the same topics in new ways. This also helps all students to retain information after the year is over and actually use their knowledge in the real world.
I personally have had experience changing lesson plans from lecture style to this style of hands-on learning, and it is not that difficult. Some may argue that it is more difficult to manage a classroom this way, but I think it would help students by engaging them in learning while getting out their wiggles in productive activities, so in reality, this helps to manage a classroom. This is not that difficult. We just need teachers to be on board with this and be willing to change their ways slightly to accommodate more students and make their learning matter.
That is a neat prospective. Do you think that different styles are better or worse for different age groups? Sometimes I have felt that we are missing the mark and trying to teach kids the same way we teach adults in order to get them ready for the future
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