Years ago when I first had computers in my classroom, I relied on the students to help each other as well as the teacher. It was great for students to help each other and to see a teacher willing to learn from students. I have carried that experience with me. I still want the students to help each other first.
I would like my role to be less of a director and more of a facilitator. My students would work on problems solving through projects and modeling where they collaborate to reach goals. Some of my students will resist open ended learning without a perfect outcome. They will struggle with making mistakes to learn and persevering through difficult tasks. They are pretty used to teacher directed learning.
I like my classroom to be controlled chaos. I like to see my students at their computers working on their tasks. Discussion is huge in my classroom. As a computer applications teacher I like seeing my students try to solve problems on their own before coming to me. I encourage them todo this. One barrier I have had has been students expect to be shown how to do things step by step ANSI like to let them discover this seems tone difficult for them.
I feel many students struggle with open ended questions. My own students have issues with a question that doesnât have a definite answer. They have bee trained well that there are only right and wrong answers.
My students love it when they get to teach me something. They get very excited and there are times when I allow them to demonstrate to the class how tousle something they have discovered.
The culture Iâd like to promote is a persistence to get to the âbetterâ answer or do the best work. I do care about the students getting the ârightâ answers, but would want students to be aware that there can be multiple right answers, or multiple ways to get to the right answer, and that I prize when students give the wrong answers using valid or logical reasoning. I consider all of these steps in the quest for a more complete answer, or best work.
A barrier would definitely be the traditional attitudes for students to search for a ârightâ and maybe âonlyâ answer. Students that happen to guess the right answer are frustrated when chance isnât enough to satisfy the teacher. Likewise, the students that arrived at the wrong answer by reasoning logically, but incorrectly, may fail to see the value of that mistake toward their true understanding.
I enjoy it most when my students are engaged in an active and lively discussion/debate in the classroom, especially when I can step aside entirely and only interject occasionally to ensure that they stay on topic and stay civil. This is easier said than done in a middle school, but I have found, funnily enough, that establishing a very particular set of rules for free discussion (oxymoron, i know), actually helps them to be more unhindered in conversation. Sometimes, the kids like having a box.
Like others in this group, I am sure there will be some management issues involved in letting each student (or small group) model on a separate laptop. Mostly, I am sure it will require me to walk the room and put a stop to the inevitable Youtube and GChats that will be taking place.
I agree completely. I teach mostly advanced students, and even they get very uncomfortable when I ask them to think of a question that doesnât have a right or wrong answer. In truth, I think that most adults get uncomfortable when presented with open ended, subjective questions as well. Thereâs a great relief in having a right or wrong answer.
For this reason, itâs even more important that we present these questions to our students.
I would like to promote the idea of collaboration and having everyone in the class be comfortable enough to learn from each other as well as teach each other (this includes the teacher). In this type of classroom, it would be great to have a team atmosphere in which all students help and get help from others OR, at least, help each other find out where to get the answers. This does not mean that someone else solves the problem for that person, but someone who helps guide the other to get success.
There could be problems with students who want to just finish it for the other student or who want to show off and say, this is how itâs done. If this happens then the other student continues to be confused and never achieves that success. Without that, students remain un-involved in learning. Also, I see problems with students who get frustrated quickly or easily; coding assignments will need to include scaffolded hints so that students can access success easier at the beginning of coding and then a little more difficult later. Hopefully, by this time, students will have learned that persistence pays off.
I have always been a teacher of an âopen classroomâ, where there is no right or wrong, but having students understand why answers may be different from other groups. They must discuss and explain what could have gone wrong.
On another note, one of my students favorite activities at the beginning of the year is having them write down steps for me to follow on making a sandwich. âOpen bagâ is so vague, that it can be interpreted many ways and I tend to rip open the bag with such force that the bread goes flying everywhere. I continue to do this with all the different steps. Having different groups see if they can do better than the last. Finally, as a class we come up with the steps on how to make a sandwich. I can definitely relate this to programming, as they may forget to be precise and the computer will read it a different way then they intended.
Motto in my class: Failure leads you to success.
For those students so worried about âfailingâ, I tend to step in and do it for them, just so they can start thinking outside of the box.
I would like to encourage a classroom of independent learners. That doesât mean I want them to learn by themselves, but take ownership of their learning. It is hard for many students as they struggle to solve difficult problems. They want one answer and it is hard for them to show perseverance to determine how to solve the problem and the type of resources they will need to solve it.
With students who have traditionally struggled academically, it will take time to help them understand how to take charge of their own learning and be constructive, not destructive.
I agree that the fact that students have to prepare for year-end state assessments often takes the focus off of learning how to think and to apply knowledge on a higher level. Also, with students worrying about grades for college acceptance, the focus is not on growing as a student. Even the bright students often just want me to tell them what they need to know to pass the test. Changing that classroom culture they have learned can be a challenge.
I agree about the advanced students wanting the right answer. I sometimes think they are more concerned about failing or not getting it right than other students are. Performance, for many in our society, does not give much room to failure. I think that, just as it will take time to learn coding, it will take time to learn a new kind of classroom culture.
I have already responded to several other entries that raised some issues I can see rising. I think the most effective way I can describe the culture I would like to promote in my classroom is one of intellectual safety and mutual respect. Persistence would be valued as much, if not more than success. Creativity would be encouraged and applauded. Also, the learning process would become as important as the final product.
I like to have a safe environment, meaning that everyone feels safe in taking chances and understanding that it is okay if he or she is not right. I believe that the students should give the teacher time to introduce the foundation of a topic and then through labs, investigations, research and collaboration will fill in the gaps and take the objectives to a deeper level. Unfortunately, not all students have the same work ethic or desire to work towards the potential he or she has so that is always a barrier that a teacher has to face to find a way to motivate that student.
I come across this too. They see black and white and expect so many answers to be exact. Itâs like they have been programmed to be that way since teachers tend to test that way. I guess we just need to keep modeling the vision of open ended responses and eventually they will become more active and engaging learners.
Having used programming in my robotics classes I see the value of grit and perseverence. Using the students, and other teachers as resources really allows you to make progress and understand what you need to do. Keep trying and trying and trying is the moto in my classroom.
I would like to create a safe and positive classroom for inquiry and discovery. Students should feel comfortable with themselves, each other, and with me to ask questions, to explore, even to struggle, to find solutions and possibly more questions. Students should feel comfortable to not know the answer and to be wrong. The major barrier to this type of classroom is having limited time for exploration and discovery with so much content to cover. Another barrier is overcoming studentsâ attitude that mastery of science means knowing all the answers.
Teaching something that is new is always challenging. Students usually look at me and think I am expert. I think the culture begins with honesty; letting students know this is something new to me and we would be learning together. This way, they would be more comfortable trying new things, making mistakes, learning from mistakes and collaborating.