I have been really torn lately over the inspiration that some of our readings have brought to me and the actual realities of these ideas actually working with students. In one way or another many of our readings seem to touch on creating a classroom environment that is geared towards what issues and topics students will find most engaging and then designing lesson plans that then fit into the standards we are supposed to teach. By getting our students involved in activities and projects that interest them and keep them moving and engaged in critical thinking, they are more likely to learn and retain information than if they sit at their desks, reading and filling out worksheets.
While I don't disagree with this approach by any means, I do feel that even this approach often leads to disengaged students. I volunteer at a middle school in a classroom that teaches 8th grade science. The students sit at a large table in groups of four and are often encouraged to discuss questions with their table group. There are various activities and projects that the teacher has incorrporated into her lessons. They make posters, perform lab experiments, get to work with computers and ipads, and yet I still see a number of students who are not involved and are often downright bored. Why? They have a wonderful classroom environment that encourages discussion and problem solving through a variety of ways.
I would love to hear thoughts from other people as this is an issue that has always frustrated me. What have been some of your experiences with disengaged students and how did you, or the teacher you were working with, deal with it?
I have also been thinking about the idea of disengaged students lately and have asked the same questions. I have some theories about why children are checking out and what we can do to help them. However, these are new ideas for me and I have yet to test my hypothesis. In the video we watched this week on Sir Ken Robinson’s lecture on the Changing Paradigms, he brings up the idea that people do their best when they do the thing that they love and are in their element. He asked many people in different fields what it means to be in your element, and the theme of the response he got was that there was a strong connection between their talent and their best selves. So how can we help our students to reconstitute their sense of self? After you begin to know your students and their strengths, the concept is to link those with subjects or topics with things they are good at to the ones that they may not understand as well. For example, a child who you know is very interested in science, but is disengaged during a literacy lesson, may be more encouraged to write if the teacher suggests they write about hunting for bugs in their backyard (which is a favorite activity of the child’s).
ReplyDeleteAnother thought that came up for me while reading your blog was that children are given disciplines to learn and frequently question why they need to know it. Often the answer that is given to them is because it is a part of the curriculum and you need to know it. We should begin to close this gap of misunderstanding and begin to build bridges. To do this, teachers need to communicate with their students about how the subject or the area of interest will be valuable to their future. Perhaps this could be another technique to get a student more engaged in their learning.