Get back to learning

We have been discussing in class that education in America has become very data driven. Instead of worrying about the child, we worry about their test scores and how they measure up to their peers. This has caused all sorts of stress for students and teachers in the 21st century classroom.

Teachers need to get back to doing what is right for the students. We need to bring inquiry into our classrooms and form a learning, safe environment. Children need to take more ownership in their learning which in return will help them achieve higher results.

It irritates me when I open up a textbook for 5th grade students in Tennessee and see a very boring, word for word road map for teachers to "teach" science in a way that involves boring memorization and answering questions. Even the experiment is not interactive with what the lesson is trying to teach.

I keep referring back to Project WET and WILD, but I really think these experiments are GREAT to jazz up any lesson. The textbook should be used as a guide, not a cookie cuter way for a teacher to work. Project WILD can be tied to almost any project. My team is looking into a lesson on animal adaptations in the wild. Instead of just teaching students why a bird has wings and why a puffer fish blows up, we are tying in Project WILD to introduce students to endangered species and how our actions as humans effect animals. This broadens our lesson topic while tying in math to our experiment, and reading into the overall instruction.

Bringing experimentation into the classroom, takes work. It is time consuming, hard, and stressful, but every ounce of it is worth it. Kids need to be in groups so that they can discuss and learn from each other. I loved how we discussed in our lit circles that we need to get on the same level as our students. Students do not need to feel that we are the smartest person in the classroom this makes them feel scared to speak up incase they are wrong. Students need to realize that no one person has all of the answers, and we are simply guiding them in instruction.

I really hope I can implement everything we have been talking about in my classroom one day. Even if I have to fight the principal one day, I will always strive to keep the textbook as a secondary resource in my classroom. I want my students to enjoy learning and enjoy interacting with each other. A classroom is a family and every one should be able to support each other.