One student's thoughts.

This is so insightful I just had to share it.  This was posted on a forum by one of my students:  The writing prompt was:  What about today's teaching and learning do you dislike and what do you like? In other words, what would the perfect classroom environment for you be like?  (#flipclass #inquiry #blending anyone??)

Robert Myers - Thursday, May 31, 2012, 12:34 PM

It is my opinion that the teaching methods in use today are less effective than they could be. The methods I have experienced in my educational career I believe to place too high an emphasis on rope memorization and mandatory homework. In my opinion, this is largely ineffective. The presentation of facts cannot stand alone. In order to truly understand the material, which of course makes the facts much easier to remember, it is required that one understands why the facts are what they are. Why does the Quadratic Formula work? Where did it come from? How was it discovered? Why did Rome spread itself thin? Why was it imperial, yet reestablished the governments of every nation it conquered? Why were the Jews so resistant to Roman rule? Why did Rome work to eliminate Christianity, yet was perfectly willing to accept the vast majority of religions? How has Rome gone from trying to eliminate Christianity to becoming the universal symbol of Christianity? Why are these facts true? What motivates these historical events? How were these facts discovered? These are questions vital to truly understanding the material. After 3 years of knowing the Quadratic Formula, I still cannot derive it, or explain why it works. I cannot prove the Quadratic Formula, yet I use it constantly. I do not understand the Quadratic Formula. I remember the Quadratic Formula. Nothing more. My ideal teaching environment is impractical in a school such as Coopersville. However, I will detail it, as steps towards such an environment I believe would be beneficial. The ideal environment would consist of classes of about half the size of the current class. The class would be discussion based, with the teacher only guiding the students. The material, as far as is practical, would not be taught. It would be discovered. I mean, obviously you can't have students figure out the composition of a proton. That would require the construction of a particle accelerator and knowledge much more advanced than is appropriate to teach prior to teaching the composition of a proton. However, the ideal environment would involve as much discovery as is practical. For example, our science classes often teach the subject, then demonstrate it with the lab that led to its discovery. Invert that. Do the lab first. Give the students a question and resources, and have them design and run an experiment to answer it. Have them figure out why the results were what they were, and introduce every subject in this way for which it is practical to do so. In history classes, present a fact and let the students discuss possible implications of the fact. Allow them to exhaust their ideas, perhaps throw in a couple guiding remarks, and then teach the actual implications. If the actual implications differed, have the students determine why. Teach two facts and have the students explain how they are connected, or the motivations or circumstances that led from one to the next. Have them discuss it among themselves, figure it out themselves. In English classes, assign reading. Then have the class enter a discussion and tear the selection apart. Allow the students to discuss directly with one another, rather than being fed the answers by the teacher, and allow them to find the deeper meaning themselves. Allow them to own the understanding, having figured it out themselves. In mathematics classes, present the material in the form of problems. Have the students figure out the material through solving the problems, then bring them together to discuss their solutions or what stumped them in order to get farther into the subject. The teacher should only say what is necessary to make sure the subject is taught. That is the ideal environment, in my opinion. However, such an environment requires intelligence and drive from the students. Coopersville, being a public school, does not consist entirely of driven students. We have struggled with late work and missing assignments and people just not doing the work. A literal use of my environment would not work. However, I believe adopting some measures and modifying some of the more radical suggestions may allow my environment to prove beneficial. I also realize that Coopersville lacks the means to have such small class sizes. However, it seems to me that there is no reason why AP classes cannot conform very closely to my environment, and why others cannot adopt some measures. I believe it would benefit the school. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Tell me and I'll forget. Teach me and I'll learn. Involve me and I'll understand." Involve the students. Allow them to discover the material themselves, to take part in teaching each other. Only then will there be true understanding