Time to Stand Up

I have come to really enjoy my blog reader feed (I think that is what it is called...) and I find myself checking it out daily if not twice or three times a day. I have found that not all blogs are for me but there are lots out there I have yet to explore (any suggestions would be appreciated). Anyways, while I was doing my daily check this morning I came across a very awesome article titled Learning by Making is More Humane through Ann S. Michaelsen's blog.

In this article Phil Shapiro discusses this whole concept of how all students learn differently, and by changing teaching techniques to encompass this idea students will be more interested in school. He starts off by expressing how important it is to teach "humanely". Phil uses this term a lot and I think what he means by it is that teachers should realize that students need to have high interest levels to be engaged in learning. So, a way of raising that level is giving the students purpose and reason for what they do. This is a more humane way of educating students compared to making them read text after text and listen to lecture after lecture. That is something I am familiar with, as I'm sure many of you are, and I can see where he is coming from using the term "humane".

Phil later uses the terms "standing up and sitting down" to refer to the different teaching techniques. I totally get this! I have seen it in my own learning and I have seen it in my student teaching placements. Students need opportunity to get out of their chairs and make, instead of always sitting and having their heads crammed full of stuff. I find the more independence you give students in their learning the more they take from it.

When I went to elementary school, which wasn't too long ago, we had our assigned seating in rows. The day would start with the teacher coming in and telling us to find our seats and sit down. We were not to move from that spot all day because all of our learning was done from the same seated position. Sure there were special times when we would get to leave our seat and do something that involved more than a pencil and paper, and those are the days that I remember best. The lasting impressions I have include putting together projects by crowding around a computer screen with classmates, or grouping out in the hallway as we prepare for some kind of readers theatre.

At the start of the education program I was hesitant and worried about what and how I would teacher my future students. I really don't have that feeling anymore because there is no way I can truly plan for them. Every student is different and will want to learn differently about different things. All I can do is have a good base of resources that I can utilize in engaging my students learning.

Links:

Ann S. Michaelsen at Teaching using web tools

Phil Shapiro at http://makezine.com/2014/01/22/learning-by-making-is-more-humane/