Suggestions: Field experiences relating to content literacy- observations, interactions and questions. Response to Readicide.
These first few weeks have been going really well. One thing I've noticed and discussed with my host teacher is the student inability to really think independently. The first week I was there they had a test in the middle of the week. My host teacher gave them study guides to fill out and then reviewed them the day before the test. what surprised me was when she asked the students questions off the study guide, just reworded a little so they had to think they were unable to figure out the answer. One simple example would be word choice, she used the word advantageous instead of good trait to describe one of the questions and the students didn't know the word (even though the school has words of the week required that are similar). In addition a scientific word that the students had been tested on multiple times but wasn't on the study guide stumped them for credit on not only the review but the test. When I spoke to the teacher about this she explained that 9th graders have a hard time thinking independently which is why she rewords the questions ( to make them think). She wants them to be exposed to not only scientific terms but everyday words as well. I think that was one of my first real lessons in content literacy.
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Independent thinking is an issue we will always face, I'm afraid. Students want teachers to lay out EXACTLY what will be on quizzes or tests or whatever. This leads directly to that "teach for the test" mentality. Instead of learning the skills or information in the class, the students are simply memorizing what will be on the assessments.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! I agree with Ross. You are seeing the effects of a generation of testing that Gallagher talks about and that we discussed in seminar. Instead of going with it - push back HARD against it. Design an activity that will CHALLENGE students to think. Honestly, memorizing from a study guide is not a high-challenge activity. It isn't exciting, creative, imaginative, or even interesting. In fact, it's tedious - and if you ask students, they will tell you it is boring. Have students do something with the content - active learning. Remember Gallagher's classroom with 20 questions and article of the week. Remember the apple! You have to get students' attention - engage them, before you can teach. While this may be getting more difficult because of all the interference with other attractions, the basic principle hasn't changed. So, what about your content will capture the interest of your students??
ReplyDeleteI feel as though we are creating a disservice to the next generation by the way that we approach learning. I have found the same difficulties in my classroom. Not necessarily with vocabulary, rather with inverting problems and solutions (hard to explain, just know I feel your pain). However, I do not blame my own teaching techniques. I feel that the students have missed out on essential learning skills early in their schooling careers. Thus, by the time they get to our classrooms, they lack the building blocks to allow for independent thinking. Hopefully the next generation of teachers (this means us) will understand the difficulties and cut the lifeline of non-independent thinkers. Test takers are not well rounded individuals...
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