-We have come so far since we started studying back in the fall! When I think of building bridges it makes me think of the bridging the gap so that our students can make that leap from being taught something and using that knowledge that they have learned in an authentic real-life situation and proving that it actually works! This week when reading Baggio the key thing that stood out for me, apart from CRAP (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment & Proximity), was that less is more and that consistency is key. In language teaching we often use visuals to introduce concepts and new vocabulary and then in the upper levels it is the students who are doing the presentations about different cultural themes, and so I shall be passing on Baggio’s recommendations to them. When reading Baggio it makes you look at things in a whole new light and I shall certainly be revisiting some of the grammar presentations that I have made and look at whether the visual dominates/detracts from what the slide is about, if there is good contrast in my slides, if there are unifying points and if they are put near to each other, if things are well-aligned (preferably to the left) on the pages and what the text/fonts look like. So much to think about, but what she said made a lot of sense!
This week my group was working on the Pebble-in-the-pond model for instructional design. Just looking at the picture of the ripples on the pond put a lot of things in perspective for me. All of the steps for learning are so closely intertwined and when one ripple (part) of the instructional model is complete, it should lead seamlessly into the next and so forth. Every step plays its part and needs to be presented to students in the best way possible so that they effectively process that information otherwise all of the other ripples in the pond and their outcomes will be affected. When learning a language everything is built on what goes before it, so laying a strong foundation is imperative otherwise the student is never going to be able to move as far forward as they want to. In today’s world presenting students with real life authentic situations to learn from is key – all too often they are taught information but then find it difficult to apply it in a given situation. As educators it is most important that we are familiar with the types of students that we have in our classes so that we can design activities that will best serve those students. The SITE model has the learner at the center of the model, and not an isolated entity, surrounded by sociocultural, technical and informational subcontexts. I have a variety of students in my classes and often I find it tough to reach all of them – they all have different family backgrounds and want to get different things out of their classes/school than each other. They also have varying knowledge about the types of tools that we use in class that will help them with their learning. I’m trying so much more now to put the emphasis back on the students, as opposed to the focus to be on me. It seems that we have to give them the educational tools to make their wings, and then they need to make that leap to fly. It’s like taking a horse to water, but not being able to make it drink. We have to be the ones on the sidelines encouraging the students and giving them the confidence to make that leap, to make those connections and apply the knowledge that they just learned successfully in a real life situation. The knowledge we have gained so far in this course has just totally changed my perspective on learning and makes so much sense. I really want to use all of these new tools that we are acquiring in our toolboxes right now, but there are too many time constraints at the moment. Over the summer time I would like to go back over the designs of my courses and rewrite some of the projects and rethink some of methodologies used, so that learning is much more student-orientated and less teacher-focused. My goal next year is to be much more of a facilitator, rather than be the spotlight.
1 Comment
Catalina Goldstein
4/2/2019 09:30:16 am
Tasha, I love the ripple analogy where everything plays its part. I loved your connection to how much we've grown over these past few months. It always makes me giddy to hear my students using new strategies and here were are doing the same thing. Upwards and on!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI am a French & Spanish teacher at Justin-Siena High School wanting to get new ideas to motivate my students. Archives
May 2019
Categories |