Standard 5: Application of Content
Artifact: How to Engage in A Text
Within a classroom there is a wide variety of students with a wide variety of experiences and background knowledge. Every student that walks into a classroom has a different set of skills, a different set of interests, and different ways of interpreting the information that is given to them by the teacher. For these reasons, it’s important that a teacher is able to connect the information being taught in the classroom to a wide range of different ideas and perspectives to engage students. For this artifact, I compared lessons made from the perspective of passive learners to that of active learners. To do this, I wrote a small lesson concept surrounding a scientific article that related the larger issue of climate change to the changing migration patterns of whale species. Passive learners relied solely on the teacher for information, taking notes on the article and answering questions about it. It left very little room for interpretation and made it harder to connect the piece of literature to their personal experiences. Active learners took charge in their own learning, using the teacher as a resource in case there was confusion about the article. The active learners were tasked to create a presentation based on a specific section of the article in groups. The way in which the students present was up to them. As active learners, students are able to apply their own perspective into their learning and make meaningful connections to the material. This connects to Teaching Standard 5, Application of Content, as it forced me to look at education from multiple perspectives to determine the exact methods that engage the students. As active learners, the connections made between concepts are no longer limited to the ones ideated by the teacher. Each student uses the background information presented to make connections to their own lives, connections that might not be possible when relying on the teacher alone. It’s important to provide the students with ways in which the lesson connects to the world beyond the classroom, but the most meaningful applications are made by the students themselves.
As an educator, it is easy to try to take control of the student’s experience and force connections that might not stick. When in school my least favorite subject was history because teachers failed in making connections between my life today and the events that happened in the past. All the events were far removed from the present in my eyes. On the other hand, my favorite subject was science because I was able to directly connect the concepts taught in class to the world around me. Teachers directly involved me in the world of science, I was connected to science. Through this artifact, I have been able to reflect on the importance of relating one’s own personal experiences to the engagement of students in a lesson. A teacher can apply the concept through common experiences between everybody in the classroom, but those connections are surface level at most. The initial applications act as a catalyst for the students to fully involve themselves in their learning and fully connect themselves to the information being presented to them. Students need to work towards making meaningful connections to get an ideal result and for them to grow. It is the teacher’s responsibility to foster these connections, aid students in making their own connections, and embrace the connections the students make. In taking this approach towards education, students take an active role in their education and take responsibility for their own growth. It allows them to find their own place in the world and determine what matters most.
