In How People Learn, John Dewey is quoted as saying "Schools should be less about preparation for life and more like life itself." I was thrilled to hear this because I have been toying with ways to make the Foreign Language classroom more life-like. It all goes back to the idea of motivation. Let's face it, it is hard to be motivated to learn Spanish while attending an English-speaking school with all English-speaking classmates. The actual need to learn, which is among the greatest motivators, is non-existant. In turn, students are likely to put less time and effort into their studies, which negatively affects language acquisition. If real-life situations could be simulated, however, learners have more reason to study. By allowing students to struggle through language barrier situations, the need for understanding the language instead of memorizing it would shine through.
Perhaps most importantly, transfer would be at an all-time high. Why? Because the activities in the classroom would reflect the activities of real life. By taking into account the Spanish words and grammar that students are likely to use in their life, activities can be planned to help them experience and practice Spanish in those situations. Backwards planning, in short, would make the lessons more applicable and useful. Language textbooks are often filled with information that is interesting - kind of - but not useful. (For example, how many people really need to know that the Quetzal is the form of currency in Guatemala?) By putting students in situations where they can use their knowledge, the are more likely to retain their knowledge because they will understand the importance of it.
Connecting learning to life does something that is needed in education. It connects our individual past, present and future.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Curriculum
There was so much information in the readings that I think it will take me a few tries to hit on everything that stuck out to me. I'll start off by addressing some of what I found most helpful and interesting to me.
One of the elements of the reading that I feel is most important, and what I hope to focus on in my own classroom, is transfer. How do you get students to apply their knewly acquired knowledge from one content area to another, from one year to the next? How do we get that same information to transfer from the classroom to work, from work to home, and from home to the classroom? Whereas I used to believe (a long time go mind you) that there was some secret method to teaching that would work for every situation in every classroom to produce successful learning experience, the reading helped solidify my resolve that there is no one key method or technique. Instead, there is a time and place for all different methods.
The key to successful curriculum planning is keeping the end in mind. Instead of basing the knowledge to be presented on the activity, we should base the activity on the knowledge (backward planning). There were some guiding questions in the reading that I think will prove helpful in this effort: "What knowledge is worth knowing?" and "Why am I teaching what I am teaching?" The answers to these question will be different depending on each classroom's atmosphere. Curriculum, as stated in the readings, is not static but continually negotiated. This goes to show why teachers should be educated in curriculum development. It is the teacher, not the administrator or textbook publisher, who knows the needs and wants of the students. The teacher is responsible for organizing and prioritizing the content of the course. There is too much information in each content area to cover, therefore teachers must decide what is most important. This means that teachers may need to cut things out, add things, and carefully condsider how much time they will spend on certain topics.
What is important in any classroom is that teachers and students strive for understanding. Unfortunately, I spent most of my formative school years cramming for tests and then throwing the information out the window when the bell rang. Looking back, I can see what I would do different as a high school student. How do I get my students to catch the vision I have now? How do I promote retention of knowledge? What walls will keep me from doing what I think is right and best? When all is said and done, I hope that I am able to fully address the different purposes of education (academic, vocational, social, and personal) and I hope that my students leave my class with more knowledge that they brought into it. There are a lot of questions for know, and there are many answers, but I will wait to blog them until I am a little more confident that I understand them correctly.
One of the elements of the reading that I feel is most important, and what I hope to focus on in my own classroom, is transfer. How do you get students to apply their knewly acquired knowledge from one content area to another, from one year to the next? How do we get that same information to transfer from the classroom to work, from work to home, and from home to the classroom? Whereas I used to believe (a long time go mind you) that there was some secret method to teaching that would work for every situation in every classroom to produce successful learning experience, the reading helped solidify my resolve that there is no one key method or technique. Instead, there is a time and place for all different methods.
The key to successful curriculum planning is keeping the end in mind. Instead of basing the knowledge to be presented on the activity, we should base the activity on the knowledge (backward planning). There were some guiding questions in the reading that I think will prove helpful in this effort: "What knowledge is worth knowing?" and "Why am I teaching what I am teaching?" The answers to these question will be different depending on each classroom's atmosphere. Curriculum, as stated in the readings, is not static but continually negotiated. This goes to show why teachers should be educated in curriculum development. It is the teacher, not the administrator or textbook publisher, who knows the needs and wants of the students. The teacher is responsible for organizing and prioritizing the content of the course. There is too much information in each content area to cover, therefore teachers must decide what is most important. This means that teachers may need to cut things out, add things, and carefully condsider how much time they will spend on certain topics.
What is important in any classroom is that teachers and students strive for understanding. Unfortunately, I spent most of my formative school years cramming for tests and then throwing the information out the window when the bell rang. Looking back, I can see what I would do different as a high school student. How do I get my students to catch the vision I have now? How do I promote retention of knowledge? What walls will keep me from doing what I think is right and best? When all is said and done, I hope that I am able to fully address the different purposes of education (academic, vocational, social, and personal) and I hope that my students leave my class with more knowledge that they brought into it. There are a lot of questions for know, and there are many answers, but I will wait to blog them until I am a little more confident that I understand them correctly.
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