Tasks VS Opportunities....
So what is the difference? Everyday teachers assign homework, classwork, dittos, projects etc... What are we really doing? Are the students really engaged? Are they learning? These are questions that are constantly asked by many teachers before, during, and after lessons. We are taught to assign tasks and if the students complete them, then they have learned. Have they?
I read an interesting excerpt from the book, Creating a Culture of Thinking by Ron Ritchhart, yesterday while I was taking a summer hybrid class. He cited from a Singaporean theory about teaching less and learning more. Sounds weird right? This idea is aimed at reducing teacher talk and increasing learning and engagement. This concept got me thinking. Why aren't the tasks that I am assigning really teaching my students... why aren't they engaged in the lesson... ??? How can I change what I am doing to teach less, learn more???
Although there is not one right answer, and every year comes with its own obstacles; I believe that I will start with some visible thinking routines.
Some examples of visible thinking routines:
CSI:
See Think Wonder
Sentence Phrase Word
I love your ideas!
ReplyDeleteI love that quote- "Teach less, learn more" because it seems paradoxical. Teach less what? Content? Curriculum? I do think right off the bat, you will learn more about your students and many times the constraints and stress of covering all of the curriculum takes away opportunities to build relationships. Maybe they mean teach less traditionally and learn more- which you totally started to do with Flipgrid. Having opportunities to speak and respond to one another go much farther than any traditional assignment!
ReplyDeleteLove that quote. I also agree that teachers need to talk less. Sometimes that's hard to do. I love your visible thinking routines. I am going to use them in September too!
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