Ok, so decided to post my new character or "toon" from my WOW account and enjoy my birthday at the same time. Well, it was about a week ago now, but how much knowledge I have built since I was a "wee" one. Investigating knowledge building in educational settings this week. Read a few online pdf's, searched for more kb sites to enrich my experience, settled for some "how to's" or theories of how to do these knowledge building concepts. I wonder how it really works in an educational elementary setting. What has to change for it to be successful? What has to change in me for it to work. How exciting to think the classroom can hum along with student inquiry and knowledge with guidance from me. What a cool concept! Much of what I have read suggests that teachers have a lot to learn and to "give up" for knowledge building to take hold. We would have to develop a student's ability to ask questions, to search out answers, and to redefine their roles as learners into learner-explorer-questioner-thinkers. Little Star Trekkies on a mission to go where no other elementary student has gone before......? More to follow after I game a little now.....
So, is this comment section working?
ReplyDeleteHi Mike-
ReplyDeleteThe role of students definitely needs to change- and it's a cultural change. Teachers are still regarded as repositories of information ready at the drop of a piece of chalk to deliver this information to their awaiting students. Teachers are still resented because they judge their students by ranking them by how well they accept what they deliver. I wish kids could retain their curiosity and ask questions and seek out answers instead of waiting to have unsolicited information fed to them.I wish they would demand it. Then standardized tests would be useless and discarded and colleges would need to use something besides grades and SAT scores to sort out applicants. Students as seekers would be cool.
-Diane
Diane, I wonder if there is a repository big enough for all the stuff that should be discarded in education these days......Mike
DeleteYour idea made me reflect on my new role. I teach teachers now, I am out of a classroom. Many of the teachers are afraid to push a button in case they "mess up!" I have always felt that kids need to be explorers and push buttons... be not afraid to mess up. If our teachers are afraid to make mistakes then how are the students going to learn to be explorers and make mistakes that they can then learn from. Some of my best mistakes have been my best lessons.
ReplyDelete