I would like to throw out a disclaimer before I begin yet another angry rant. Today I filled out a self assessment as part of my requirement for licensure by the state of TN. I was required to select three growth areas and discuss why I chose each area. One area I picked was "Teaching Strategies". The school at which I work, is a huge supporter of the "direct method". The administration encourages teachers to stick with the "drill and kill" method, believing it yields better test results. My school also doesn't buy into this whole theory that technology is the public school system's savior. My school doesn't buy flashy smartboards or purchase state-of-the-art LCD projectors. The majority of my class it taught with an expo marker and a white board. Now you are starting to get the picture why I am "technology-phobic". With ALL that being said, I think that my students might benefit from some of what the internet has to offer. The YouTube project made me think of all the cool videos that are on the web which provide visuals that my expo marker and left hand simply cannot produce. Enough positive, let's get on to the ranting!
It may come as no surprise, but I did particularly agree with certain ideas genearted from the Digital Youth Project. The authors state, "Contrary to adult perceptions, while hanging out online, youth are picking up basic social and technological skills they need to fully participate in contemporary society." *Sigh*. Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook are not teaching social skills necessary to participate in society. I don't know about anyone else's school, but mine has some drama. It can be hard to work with other people. When I have a conflict with a coworker, facebook does not tell me how to deal with it. My relationships in the past and present help me to know the most effective way to deal with tough situations. Students need to make meaningful relationships with their peers, so they can get experience with relational challenges.
What are the steps that I need to take to have my classroom be engaging?
I think my classroom is engaging. In fact, you are welcome to visit my classroom anytime. I'm sure you will find a majority of students eagerly raising their hands in anticipation of answering a question correctly. Sure I have a student who slouches every now and then--or heaven for bid, a child who doesn't write down all the notes. But overall the engagement is great. I've had teachers from several other schools observe my class and ask, "How do you get your students to be so engaged for the full 70 minutes?" The reason? Because my students know what engagement can get them: a college education. All 191 students at my school want to attend college, and they know that they will get there if they put in the hard work.
I had the privelage of taking a teacher field trip to a traditional memphis city school a few months ago. I am a second year teacher at a charter school, so I had never ventured into a traditional MCS school before. I had heard horror stories of students widdling weapons from broken library shelves and students pleasuring themselves in the back of classrooms. Need less to say, my expectations were low. The visit fully lived up to my expectation. Although I did not wittness any weapons being widdled, the engagement was severely lacking. Students were not learning. It was as if each student was in their own little world doing their own little thing, and nobody, including the teacher seemed to care. Had the students been listening to the teacher, they wouldn't have learned anything anyways. The teacher told them that 6 was a perfect square because 3 + 3 = 6. I almost cried.
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