The Student Will Be Able To...

As a student, walking into a classroom and seeing a learning outcome posted on the board was something that I became immune to during my school years. Probably beginning in middle school, I'd say it was standard fare. But I'm not going to pretend that I got anything out of them. I know that the studies show that posting expected outcomes helps students understand what they should be learning. I get the feeling though that my teachers, like many described in this blog, were writing the learning outcomes on the board simply because they were told to by their supervisor. They never referenced them, nor made us particularly aware of them. We just saw them up there and that was that.

I understand how writing an understandable learning outcome can be beneficial to students, but in order for the impact to be seen, students have to understand not only what they say, but why they are there. When I get into a classroom, I have a feeling that learning outcomes are going to be a mandatory part of my lesson and I can handle that and definetly use them to my and the students benefit, but I'm not on board with writing them for the sake of writing them. When I have a classroom of my own, the learning outcome in going to be part of the lesson or it wont be used at all (unless they want to fire me, in which case my stance on posting learning outcomes will likely become less negative very quickly!)

Purrra

Minds Shifting

Technology is obviously not going away. And unlike some of the commentators that you can find here, I think that means we have to shift our curriculum and teaching methods to reflect that. Getting students excited and active in their own learning means that we have to make it relevant as educators. Getting on their level and speaking in a language that they understand, because as much as we as adults want to think that we have to make them understand our point of view, we have to realize that our point of view and methods of communication are going to become quickly outdated. The world is moving away from us and the things that excite kids now, specifically in technology, are going to become standard features in their way of life by the time they become adults.

One of my favorite parts of this article was the concept of peer-to-peer connectivity. That can be translated in so many ways. But I think that it is really exciting for students to find ways to interact with each other online, and in ways that are the norm for them. To go from online posts and discussion groups that students can interact with their classmates on to video chatting with students from other states or even other countries can expand our teaching horizons so much. Especially in history, where perspective means everything, getting the point of view from students outside of their own cultural boundaries can make a world of difference in understanding why what I am teaching is relevant and important.

Some educators worry that students are losing vital communication skills by going technical and that computers and technology in the classroom can be distracting, but I disagree. I'm not saying students should be allowed to sit on facebook, or text for 50 minutes during class, but using technology in the right way is actually building relevant skills that students need to be successful after they graduate. And if I'm being honest, some of the sloppiest and hardest to understand emails that show up in my inbox come not from my fellow students, but from teachers who were never taught internet etiquette.

Purrra