I have officially conducted my first class room visit. This was a huge eye opener for me. I never thought as myself as a teacher and I never thought I would be in a class room as an observer to see how a classroom operates. These kids are our future and I enjoyed having the chance to see a classroom and see the techniques these teachers are implementing. I never had a class in middle school nor high school that was based on the project-based teaching idea.
Even before we entered the room the teachers made the students set up the tables in a huge square to allow everyone to face each other and discuss just like a typical business meeting. These students created an environment that allowed for discussion and debate. I looked around the room first and there were posters that the kids created and there were specific goals for the class but what I didn’t know is that this room was for an English class not the specific leadership class I was observing. However, there was one poster that I saw in the corner that was a recycling project that I knew this specific class worked on. I knew it was just one of the project-based learning projects that the teacher created for these students.
I was able to observe and listen to the students when they were tasked to create a charter that would end up being their rules. This was amazing! The teacher broke the students down into groups to come up with ideas about what kind of environment they wanted. They all wanted to create a fun but serious environment. After discussing their ideas each student had to define the terms such as, fun but serious, including each other, in their own words. This whole charter idea I actually read about in one of our readings to prepare us for our visits and being able to see this in action was remarkable. I will never forget this experience.
What even happen that was even more mind blowing is that the teacher pulled us to the side and waited for the room to clear and she told us with the biggest smile that all these kids had trouble with reading and some didn’t want to do their homework but with this new idea, project based learning, each of these troubled students became all stars and conquering each project with confidence and happiness.
HR: None
-Matthew Jingle
This sounds to be in the spirit of PBL. From the charter to the classroom arrangement, it sounds like the students are utilizing the fundamentals of PBL. It shows that this also provides more engagement than a typical classroom.
Matthew, I was so pleased to hear of your good experience on Visit 1, and that you saw both EL/PBL principles at work in the Eagle Academy group. Perhaps because it is a small community it will lend itself to a unique learning opportunity for the students and yourself.
Don’t forget to consider also the physical environment and connections between teacher language and student responses.
MAJ Hodde