Learning Never Stops

"Blah blah blah blah blah .........." "Now take out your textbooks and do page 12, 13, 14 and 15....um and 16". "Yes all of them!" "No, you can't discuss!" "Clear?" "Quiet over there!!!" Brrrr...scary if teachers are still doing this in class! It goes on.... "Margins are crooked..." "Date on the wrong side..." "Digits are scrawly....' FAILED...!!!! But Miss! I got the sum right!

By nainisingh | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon Today the students were presenting their work to the class in groups. They were archaeologists who have discovered a site from where they have excavated many artifacts. They had to present these to an audience. I enjoyed how the lesson went: 1) Earlier, the students had read the task and came up with their own class rubric. Each success criteria was decided by them. As a result all the students were comfortable and knew exactly what to do and how to succeed at what they were doing. In case of some confusion, I had an intervention planned ahead. 2) They were going to present their work to their parents. So the audience was clear to them. 3) In order to see whether they were on track they had to present their project (in progress) while the student used the rubric to assess their work. Because of this, they knew their shortcomings and strong points. The feedback was critical because it allowed them the chan...

I was listening to this audio clip yesterday... Podcast - Alfie Kohn: Choosing Excellence Learning Matters Alfie Kohn's views on authentic learning and his opinion on what a great classroom environment should look like is not really a novel idea. It reminds me of a checklist I got during a PD session at school titled,  "What a PYP classroom looks like." In it, most of what Mr Kohn talks about are mentioned. And yet listening to them again refreshed my mind and helped me reassess my teaching practices. At times my students are engrossed in an activity or engaged in an amimated discussion about something. I find myself rubbing my hands with glee and giving myself a pat on the back. But then sometimes not. I was editing a piece of writing the other day, trying to get the children to see how a sentence could be polished and made to sound better. I caught a few kids yawning and had to rethink the way my lesson was going. At times, kids are not...

We are studying all about old artifacts and how archaeologists spend hours analysing and drawing conclusions about the past. It's a unit that requires a lot of planning in order to ensure that the kids make some connections to this unit and find an innate desire to learn more about the past. All they could think about at the beginning was Egypt and the mummies! I cannot emphasise enough the need for a KWL chart for this unit! It has been working really well and the kids have understood the fact that they started this unit with a certain amount of knowledge and as the research has been progressing, they have come up with new understanding... Until i came across a students blog comment which I quote verbatim: " this unit that we are doing doesn't sound interesting. in this unit we have only been learning about old precious things.the only artifact that is good and interesting to me is rayhan's. it made me think a lot. i think the key was used in the old times to op...

I came across this video, which was indeed funny and scary, from a tweet this evening which really pinpoints the dilemma teachers face. The mechanical male voice droning out the teacher expectations and the sane female voice of reason , though sexist, drives home the message quite clearly. As a teacher, I do feel the pressure of covering the curriculum. I am aware of parent expectation( though I am very often disappointed by the lack of commitement on their part. They seem to think i'ts the teachers job to get it all done). I know the pressure that the management is under when the kids don't score too well in standardized tests. But because of this rush (what train are we catching?! what flight are we missing?!), we are forgetting that learning has to be spontaneous, fun and must go at the pace of the child and teacher. If the teacher is not comfortble, will the students be? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVXhA_hs2J8&feature=player_embedded

This is a document in progress. I enjoyed creating it and feel like sharing! Inquiry 6 Weeks Plans

By nainisingh View this Toon at ToonDoo Create your own Toon