1. Educational Leadership. Today's students have an exciting outlet for creativity and collaboration at their fingertips. As a result, students have shorter attention spans and it makes the job of the teacher that much more difficult to keep students engaged. So what do we do about this? The author of Educational Leadership suggests ways to instill ownership of learning. Some possible ways include, providing relevant curriculum material, using technology appropriately, offering choice learning projects, making learning active, and allowing students to move at their own pace. Teachers are also urged to instill student accountability. Some possible ways include teaching study skills for independent learning and learning new professional skills.
2. What students want from teachers. Students were asked for a time they felt in charge of their learning at school, when they were working not just for a grade but because they were excited and interested to learn. Some of their responses included: feeling they are taken seriously, being challenged to think, respected, given responsibility, and feeling they are important.
So many students feel high school is just a stepping stone to something bigger. Every student is in charge of his or her learning. How hard we work in school and take charge of our own learning experience depends on our goals in life. It is important for students to set goals for themselves and to work to achieve those goals but it is more important for a teacher to make students feel the most comfortable and feel they have the ability to succeed at whatever they may encounter.
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2 comments:
I think it is important to let students work at their own pace. By doing this it is more likely that we will receive their best work. If we do this and give the student motivation and let them know that you believe they can accomplish a task it can lead to a better learning experience.
I agree with what you said about students viewing high school as a stepping stone before doing something bigger. I remember seeing high school that way myself; all of the classes I took were to "help" me get into college or to give me more experience with FCS before becoming an FCS major. I also like what you said about teachers encouraging students and helping them to feel that they can succeed with anything they encounter in life. As FCS teachers, we'll have a huge opportunity to encourage students, and they'll actually accept that encouragement because we'll be teaching them and encouraging them about applicable life skills.
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