Week 11

Blog and Gator
Taking Stock of the First Six Months Beyond the Walls: I Had No Idea…Really…
Barbara Ganley
from Stephen's Web ~ OLDaily

I found this really interesting article on “Taking Stock on the First Six Months Beyond the Walls” by Ganley. Ganley evaluated the process of college students learning through “collaborative learning” and taking ownership of their learning. But, as she was leaving the classroom for other adventures to experience in education, she conjured up the thoughts that maybe this isn’t the way students learn, given that you have an “artificial environment.” Ganely compares the aspects of teaching in an academic environment, completely different from teaching outside of a classroom-type setting. In the real-world, working with non-profit organizations and the community, she feels that school was a “comfort confine.” I do agree that often school is comfortable, the teacher talks and the students listen. This year I have been challenging myself to be more creative as I teach, stepping away from whole group teaching and lecturing. I am integrating small groups, interactive play, manipulatives, investigations, technology exploration, and am finding my students growing and responding to these new learning options. It is not that I haven’t always used them in my classroom, just in moderation, given that the school day has a limited amount of teaching time. Working in an elementary school, it seems that you are always playing catch-up, but I like this new approach to learning. This article made me think, we can get too comfortable as educators in a school/academic setting.