Comments for Avoiding Cookie Cutter Syndrome

Comment on Creating Common Craft Videos in History Class by Christina Harnack

Christina Harnack — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 03:54:06 +0000

Dan, this looks great! I’m interested in hearing more about your reflections and those of the students with the project. It seems like a great direction and an authentic process for them as well. I would love to hear more and am curious how this shift was beneficial for the students, the learning process, understanding the HTCs and for evaluation and then finally connecting the material in the final summative. (And of course what challenges were presented as well…and how you tackled them)Thanks for your post.

Comment on Teaching Civics in Ontario by Scott Kemp

Scott Kemp — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:04:54 +0000

Dan,
Civic Mirror has become indispensable in my teaching of the Civics curriculum as well. Not only does it engage students in the explicit curriculum, but the community it creates is palpable. Students who say very little become leaders, power in the classroom is distributed beyond the typical teenage spectrum. The classroom dynamics change.
It is also a perfect demonstration of what student-led learning look likes and a move towards teachers “getting out of the way” of real learning.
Nice work connecting this great tool with TVO.
Cheers,
Scott

Comment on Ballantyne@BCI App for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch is Now available! by C Fusco

C Fusco — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:24:21 +0000

Hey Dan, this is fantastic!!! Let us know how students respond to it.

Comment on Off My Game by Scott

Scott — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:29:11 +0000

I like this post. We can all recognize the frustration in trying to do something “better” for our students, but not having it received as such. I appreciate your honesty, “I want them to agree…”
I, too, take a very conversational approach to teaching and find that is the best way for me to learn. However, we are both outgoing, social people. What of the shy kids? Does the kid who wanted more time to read and reflect individually and less open conversation have the opportunity to feel as empowered as the kids engaged in the conversation?
I try to employ the idea of “behind the curtain” teaching often. I like that you revealed your intentions, maybe that’s the real lesson, those times when we try to connect with all learning styles, we have to openly ask for students’ help in identifying and codifying those learning styles and with what/if we reach them?
Glad to have you blogging again!

Comment on Off My Game by Dbal1977

Dbal1977 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:52:28 +0000

Thanks for the comments. Shine on you angry diamond!

I had an experience similar to your Geography one in History class. Mr Werstine (hope I spelled it correctly) had us run a pre-WWI peace conference simulation in Gr 12 History. He rarely spoke, never taught directly but facilitated the discussion by creating some structure through the sim rules. When he was vocal it was usually a positive, affirming comment… he really was kind of a cheerleader if you could call it that. Anyways, that experience was so formative for me, not only intellectually, but socially as well. I know that I am a different person because of that week in class. It was self-directed, problem-driven, inquiry-based… all these concepts we hear about in FFP and in education in general. There was also room for failure and then learning from it. Essentially it was a conversation between the class, who had taken on various perspectives of each country initially involved in WWI, to try to reach a settlement and avoid armed conflict. Debates were furious! Fact checking equally so. I remember combing the UW library for books on the subject.

The best part is that I don’t have a clue what mark I got, but even then I knew that wasn’t the point.

Comment on Off My Game by Corb

Corb — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:41:05 +0000

I am depicted as an angry diamond. How did it know?

Comment on Off My Game by Corb

Corb — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:40:22 +0000

Dan,

Well said. Much respect for your honesty.

Further, in reading this post I feel less isolated as a teacher, especially in this particular struggle:

“What was especially ironic and served to support my point that accommodation is difficult is that a student told me afterwards that they didn’t like the conversation, they want more textbook work, quiet reading and less open conversation.”

Funny how tradition shapes values. Yet, do students truly learn best with the traditional approach to education? Though cannot recall a single thing I read from my own Grade 10 Geography textbook, I can certainly remember the day my Grade 10 Geography teacher explained Communism to our class. We were studying the USSR from a textbook. Someone asked what Communism really means. He told us to put down our pens. A conversation ensued.

Dan, twenty-one years later, my understanding of that concept may have developed somewhat, but what matters is that my understanding remains based on that one, unforgettable lesson; a lesson which was itself nothing more than a meaningful conversation.

No test required.

Comment on Off My Game by Dbal1977

Dbal1977 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:10:34 +0000

Not sure… mine has a triangle head. I’ve set up the comment settings to automatically assign an avatar. I’ll see if I can select the “no monobrow” option…

Comment on Off My Game by Maggie S

Maggie S — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:26:53 +0000

Um…how come my avatar has a monobrow?

Comment on Off My Game by Maggie S

Maggie S — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:26:28 +0000

Well put, Dan. I hope that was an a-ha moment for the kids in your class. Some people don’t realize that learning doesn’t have to fall under the teacher to student paradigm until they’re adults and many others never have it.