I am particularly proud of my learning cycle from science methods class (EDUC 440). I used the opportunity to teach my then 4th grade students all about adaptations. I enjoyed implementing the learning cycle to see the content come alive to my students at different times. I taught it over the course of 3 class periods and used diverse teaching methods in each period. The first day was a kinesthetic lesson: the students took materials I gave them in prepared packets to help a plant or animal adapt based on the problem it had in its environment. All of the students seemed to enjoy this and really came to life. At the end, they presented what they had done and why; I found this especially important because it gave them a friendly way to verbalize what they did not know they knew about adaptations and because my students had remarked to me before that they "liked being the teacher". The second day was more traditional with discussion and PowerPoint images (although the technology became an issue, so the lesson had to be adapted minutes before). The final day was computer exploration; I had created a safe search engine to allow them to search any animal or plant they wanted to find out how it has adapted to its environment/lifestyle. While there were a few issues, many of the students seemed to enjoy this.
I believe this learning cycle fits with Characteristic #4, the teacher is a facilitator of learning for all students. I loved that this was a multi-modal learning experience. I took some of the past feedback they had given me about lessons to create a custom-tailored set of lessons to address their interests. They had kinesthetic/creative outlets, traditional visual and auditory instruction, discussion to facilitate discovery, and self-exploration based on interest. Also, the teacher made a point to tell me how amazingly the students performed on their chapter/unit test including the material I covered. The students may not have been 100% excited for every activity, but I feel that I covered many of the bases of the learning needs of the classroom.
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Rebecca, this lesson is wonderful! I love the opening kinesthetic lesson in which the students used the material in the packets to help a plant or animal adapt based on the problem it had in its environment. I imagine that this did indeed make the lesson come to life. Hands-on activities such as this are an excellent way for students to learn.
ReplyDeleteI think this does indeed fit into Characteristic 4 - the teacher is a facilitator of learning for all students. It's really great that you took some of the past feedback your students had given you about lessons to create a custom-tailored set of lessons to address their interests. All students learn differently, and so it is important for the teacher to know students well so they can meet each student's needs. By tailoring the lessons to fit students' interest, you did a very good job of facilitating learning for all students. Great lesson!
Rebecca, I liked the way that you tied Multiple Intelligences into your explanation of this blog to show facilitating learning for all. You were able to convince me that this is a strong artifact under characteristic 4. It shows that you understand the elements of this characteristic and were able to blog about them in a clear and concise manner.
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