Last week, my partner and I made our way into the Rockbridge County High School and into Mr. Simms Developmental Psychology classroom. Throughout our time there last Tuesday and Thursday I was able to see many promising things from the way that he was teaching his subject. From the use of Project Based Learning to the friendly and inviting atmosphere, everything seemed to mesh together perfectly for the way he wanted to teach and the most efficient way for the students to learn.

When we first arrived to the class, we were greeted by smiling students and happy conversations (something that I, personally, was not used to from my time in High School) and many of the students using laptops and other forms of technology to do work. The assignments and discussions that were being given out to the students during our time there seemed extremely fun to do and gave the students more than enough choice in what they wanted to complete for them. This was mixed in with games, such as the three truths and one lie game that we were able to participate in, that were used to successfully build an understanding of the subject at hand.

Ultimately, throughout our two visits last week, there was a great deal of PBL being used in the classroom, most notably an assignment where the students were to quickly research different types of therapy for an assignment, as well as a great deal of progressive teaching that broke the norm of teaching that many classrooms still use today.