Well ... you didn't ask me, but I have an opinion anyway ;). I know, you're not surprised ... *grin*.
What this teacher is proposing sounds a lot like "un"schooling - especially the part about throwing things at them that might be considered "too hard." It's like putting my five year old in a Lego Robotics class with nine and ten year olds. I didn't just toss her to the wolves - I stayed with her, and I helped her where she was confused, but mostly, I stood back and let her discover it for herself.
No "learning" is linear, and I think the reason we're taught to teach that way is because it's easier for "us" to teach that way. It's not better for the students - at least in my experience.
I think the presentation is great. It resonated with me.
By the way, I was a bit confused by the title of your post ;). Eric "programs PLCs" (which are electrical components used in the machines he designs and builds) all of the time, but I don't think it's the same thing.
PLCs in my world are "professional learning communities". It's where you share with trusted colleagues thoughts on teaching and how to make your practice better. All of you teacher readers (yes, Wendy, you too) form my personal PLC :)
At MES, it's a PLC if it's all of us and a "learning team" is an off shoot of that big group, like a grade level. But being a member of your personal PLC makes me happy, so I'll take it! (And the math presentation was cool too. It made me think of EMT...early mathematical training.)
4 comments:
Well ... you didn't ask me, but I have an opinion anyway ;). I know, you're not surprised ... *grin*.
What this teacher is proposing sounds a lot like "un"schooling - especially the part about throwing things at them that might be considered "too hard." It's like putting my five year old in a Lego Robotics class with nine and ten year olds. I didn't just toss her to the wolves - I stayed with her, and I helped her where she was confused, but mostly, I stood back and let her discover it for herself.
No "learning" is linear, and I think the reason we're taught to teach that way is because it's easier for "us" to teach that way. It's not better for the students - at least in my experience.
I think the presentation is great. It resonated with me.
By the way, I was a bit confused by the title of your post ;). Eric "programs PLCs" (which are electrical components used in the machines he designs and builds) all of the time, but I don't think it's the same thing.
PLCs in my world are "professional learning communities". It's where you share with trusted colleagues thoughts on teaching and how to make your practice better. All of you teacher readers (yes, Wendy, you too) form my personal PLC :)
At MES, it's a PLC if it's all of us and a "learning team" is an off shoot of that big group, like a grade level. But being a member of your personal PLC makes me happy, so I'll take it! (And the math presentation was cool too. It made me think of EMT...early mathematical training.)
darn it...I think training should be thinking.
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