flickr photo by timo_w2s: http://flickr.com/photos/timo_w2s/460045024/
I cannot believe how quickly the last few months have passed by. I have been busy visiting classrooms and enjoying the opportunity to observe the work of our new teachers....what an amazing privilege!
As we approach the well deserved break, I invite you to take some time to reflect on and think about a few questions & in turn, post some comments:
How can we improve student engagement in learning?
This may be a very ambiguous question to answer, but it is one of the most important issues to consider when working with our young people. We need to think deeply about our students...the 21st century learner... and their individual learning needs. We must examine and revisit traditional teaching pedagogy and upgrade our daily classroom practices with student engaging pedagogy.
So, what is student engaging pedagogy?
How can we create classroom conditions that elevate learning opportunities for all students?
Our work is sensitive and critical. How we design learning for our students today, will affect them for the rest of their lives. Not only is it important for students to learn today, but is equally -if not more - important for students to strengthen and develop the capacity to learn for all of their tomorrows.
flickr photo by Shopping Diva: http://flickr.com/photos/shoppingdiva/181269963/
I look forward to your hearing about your reflections ;-) Let's get the conversation started....
Julie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the well wishes for the break. I hope you make some time to enjoy your family and relax a little too. This past few months have been a challenge, I have had to change my style of teaching to meet my student’s needs. Developing the web site was a great success as the students feel that they are more connected to the classroom and it gives them access when they need it, although they do not use it as much as I would like them to, Baby Steps! I have achieved respect in the room and for what I teach; it's not "JUST" hairstyling anymore! The students realize that they can make a great career from this craft and now appreciate the skills involved. I intend to have a field trip soon to visit salons and beauty supply companies to inspire them even more! I have found that by keeping the theory lesson short and using a hands on approach works best for the kids, once they understand and respect the concept we then go back and learn the theory, and it is working. I have always done it the other way and that was not working in this situation, so I self reflected and changed it up, this may seem backwards to some, but they are getting it. We have 3 students competing in the skills Manitoba competition and this has caused great interest to the other students who were too scared to try, maybe next year. I really appreciated you coming into the classroom and encouraging me to dig deeper and give them more.
Thanks
Kathy
Kathy,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments. Each time I had the pleasure to be in your classroom the enthusiasm you projected for your craft was clearly visible and at times infectious. It is wonderful that you chose to "dig deep" in order to reflect on your teaching style and in turn make the necessary changes to support the learning of your students. You discovered what worked best for the learners and were mindful of this in the design of your program implementation. Cheers to you and all the best as you move forward :-)
Julie