Take learning a step further
What is the goal of school? education? The answer is simple: we are seeking to equip students to be successful members of society. That means they must be able to engage in the daily work of a 21st Century economy. The US has few jobs requiring workers to sit on the assembly line, mindlessly assembling widgets. Instead, the students we prepare today must be proficient thinkers and problem solvers; they must be able to work in thought partnerships with diverse individuals. Whether they understand the intricacies of the Italian sonnet is less important than their ability to analyze the poet's purpose and message in writing the sonnet. This skill of pulling about a complex problem to derive meaning is a transferable skill to the real world. As often as possible, teachers must help students see that transferable skill. How will this learning connect to their real lives? How will teachers ensure it connects to their real lives?
There are several classroom protocols and projects that can assure the connection is made. Among them are discussions protocols such as Socratic Seminars, the Last Word Protocol, Write to Learn, and Classroom Talk. These techniques help students practice the important workplace skills of collaboration and productive discussion. Once the learning has occurred in the classroom, students need many opportunities to transfer the learning into writing and better yet into a project requiring them to synthesize and apply the concepts in a real world application.
Project based learning and the inquiry cycle should be the end goal of all learning. For examples of project ideas in the content areas, see the following websites:
There are several classroom protocols and projects that can assure the connection is made. Among them are discussions protocols such as Socratic Seminars, the Last Word Protocol, Write to Learn, and Classroom Talk. These techniques help students practice the important workplace skills of collaboration and productive discussion. Once the learning has occurred in the classroom, students need many opportunities to transfer the learning into writing and better yet into a project requiring them to synthesize and apply the concepts in a real world application.
Project based learning and the inquiry cycle should be the end goal of all learning. For examples of project ideas in the content areas, see the following websites: