Saturday, October 18, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Click here to read a new article by Prensky. Respond in any way that strikes you but somewhere in your thinking let us know if you believe the following statement is true: Today's kids hate being talked at. If so, is there something we should do or is there something they should do?
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15 comments:
Very interesting article. As a kindergarten teacher, it definitely made me reflect on my own kiddos...... Are they bored in class? Do they wish that I would talk to them more about how/what they want to learn? Good questions... I think, at five and six years old, kids are so excited about learning--the way I can see their "lightbulbs" turn on, their comments--"I get it!", willingness to share answers and opinions. I think this hatred for being "talked at" happens later on, in the upper grades. With certain concepts though--especially introducing new ideas, skills--how can a teacher move beyond lecturing and still introduce critical information? It's a challenge. I'm thankful I am in kindergarten. They don't complain to me about being "talked to"--yet. :)
Everyone hates being talked to. For those of us in the primary grades it is difficult to see the difference between lecturing and teaching. I know that I have to have my kids doing activities to help cement any learning that I hope takes place, but they have to sit in their chairs and listen for how the activity is actually going to take place. I don't know when the complete distain takes place. I think we need to involve our students in their learning and seek what the best path for them to learn is. Technology is where the current phase is so embrace it and go wit hit.
I thought this article was thought provoking because I hear these very same words from my younger daughter who is now a senior in high school. We talk about what makes a class boring vs the classes she finds more engaging. It makes for interesting conversation hearing what she says, and it gives me pause to reflect, "am I teaching that same way or doing something similar?" I don't want to be a "boring teacher", I want my 4th grade students to go on a "learning journey" together. I try within my classroom to have conversations with my students on what they'd like to learn or how they could make an assignment better. A lot of times we are able to compromise so that they are satisfied with their part in learning, and I am satisfied with still being able to accomplish what I needed.
After reading the article I believe that students are bored with the way they are being presented information. I don't believe it is so much that they hate being "talked at" as they are not feeling stimulated or challenged. My own kids have told me that they know more about technology than teachers do, and they aren't interested in what they are hearing. Having students sit in on teacher classes, workshops, and seminars could be an interesting way to have students be involved with their own education. High school students would probably really enjoy participating in something like this!
This was a very interesting article. I wonder if students EVER enjoyed being talked at. Certainly today, with all of the advances in technology, and other ways of accessing information, this would be true.
After what we discussed Saturday, I am looking forward to posing questions with my kids to involve them even more.
GLAD strategies came to mind as good tools for involving kids too. Kids learn more when they feel a part of what they are learning.
I completely agree with this article. Students want and need more of a voice in the classroom...my challenge as a 2nd grade teacher is to direct that voice so that learning is taking place and our target standards are met. I can definately see the difference with my students when I am presenting information/"talking at them" and when they are discussing or participating directly in a learning activity. My reality is that for some learning I don't yet have another way to present it--I start with the "talking at them" and then try to quickly change to student discussion or hands on activity (they do need oral directions though--not all students are competent readers in 2nd grade). I think it would be interesting to try and keep track over a week to see how much of the school day is "talking at" time and how much is student involvement time. I might just try this!
My initial reaction was that most kids past the age of 12 hate being talked to- probably always have! It's nice to be entertained while learning but there is some personal responsibility to attempt to stay focused and benefit from information presented regardless of the form of presentation... But new technology certainly has improved opportunities for enhanced learning while entertaining. Personal interaction involves more sensory imput and opportunities for deeper thinking. I have always felt that the biggest challenge in teaching is to find ways to "talk" that are entertaining, challenging, and thought-provocing- even for kindergarten kids.
When I read the article it made me reflect on the classes I had taken for my masters and how much I enjoyed "good" professors and how much I dreaded "bad" professors. When stuck in a lecture only classroom I immediately began to feel ticked off and I withdrew from the class. But classes where I was encouraged to get involved, where I was validated for being there and for the teacher I already was, I began to love going to, even enjoy (maybe tolerate..)doing the homework. As a teacher there is defiantly something we should do about the traditional lecture only teaching. Dump it! I think the more progressive teachers are already doing that by learning about interactive technology and using it, using the GLAD method, having kids "do" not just sit and listen.
One of the realities of a teacher's life these days is that we are extremely pressured for instructional time. Many of the processes that would most engage students and provide "buy-in" are discarded for the direct, time-saving approach. We must reflect on ways we can ensusre that the school experience doesn't become increasingly irrelevant in the lifes of our students.
This was an insightful article by Prensky and something I've heard before as an educator. Now as a parent of a 3-year old, it reinforces the fact that children need a voice, need to be listened to, and give input in regards to their learning and life decisions. Talking "to" just isn't effective -- talking "with" is much better.
As a teacher, I often feel rushed and stressed to get through all that needs to be done. I find myself not always making time to listen to every child and every story! :) Rather than acting uninterested in what they have to say, I say, "I would love to hear your story, can you share at lunch or recess?"
It is very empowering for my toddler to make choices in her life . . . down to the simplest of all things -- what kind of toothpaste do you want to use today? You can see that children are very proud when able to make decisions and be a part of the decision-making process.
In our classroom, students make their literacy choices based on the Daily 5 management system. The teachers have seen much more "buy in" to reading and writing because students are in charge of what literacy task order they are going to do each morning. With the ActivBoard and GLAD training, students are much more hands-on with their learning and their excitement is evident.
Finally, I try my best to make connections with kids so they feel safe in their learning and encourage the whole classroom community environment. I will continue to be aware of my actions as a teacher to ensure all children are heard and given opportunities to provide input in their learning.
I believe most of us don't enjoy being talked at, but instead we enjoy conversations that go back and forth. This in harder to do in class because we have bigger classes where everyone doesn't always get a chance to share their thoughts. When my two children were younger, I home schooled them. They would get to pick the topics of learning and then I would intergrate their reading, writing, math, science, etc. in the topic that was self chosen. I saw firsthand how giving them the choices of what they wanted to learn let them fully enjoy what they were learning. The learning was driven by their interests. Unfortunately, our state is giving us standards that we have to teach at different grade levels so we can't do that with the students in our class. I believe that if children could pick what they wanted to study, academics would be much more important to them and students would be more involved and dedicated to their learning. Even by giving kids small choices in class (like which book should we read today to learn about this topic?) students will feel more involved and dedicated to the learning process.
This article really makes a person think about their own teaching. I think all kids get tired of being talked at. In first grade I spend so much of the first part of our year talking... I think using the GLAD strategies has really helped in defining outcomes and learning new concepts without all the lecture. Time is always a factor and it is becoming harder to find. First graders are sponges and it is sometimes hard to tell when they have heard enough, as many of them are "pleasers".
My students are so excited with using the active votes and active board. They have complete by in when I pull out our votes.
I frequently give my students choices for assignments by building in different tasks they can do into one assignment. During my year with my students, I have them complete many self analysis tasks about how they learn, how they can help themselves be a better learner, etc. I don't think students can verbalize what will work for them until they do the self-analysis on a regular basis.
Also, I am not sure what to do for students--they don't want to be talked at so I try to keep explanations brief and easy to follow. Then I give them written instructions. They don't remember what I say, they don't read the written instructions and then don't check their work before turninig in and are surprised to find out they didn't follow directions. Then they are further surprised that I am not pleased with what they did and am not going to give them full credit.
I totally agree with this article. As I was reading it, I was thinking of the videos that we saw this summer. They all have a common thread: students need to be involved in their own learning. A teacher knows when kids are disengaged. Why continue teaching the same way? Listening to the students can guide teachers in the right direction. It can be exciting learning for everyone. We are not preparing the students for the real world if we lecture to them. Technology, group problem solving, people skills and creative thinking are just a few skills that today's students need as part of their education. It seems overwhelming to think of taking on an educational system that has been in place for so long! By taking a step at a time we can make a big difference. We owe it to our students.
This article had makes outstanding points that are true. Kids want to be engaged and not talked to. That's been true forever, so when does the cycle stop repeating? I feel like teachers work really, really hard, but some-not all-tend to revert back (naturally? lazily? unconsciously?) to teaching the way they learned. The comment from the student about a PPt being like a chalkboard hits home. Just because you use a form of technology doesn't necessarily make the information any more engaging. I don't think that creating engaging experiences for students is reinventing the wheel or anything like that, but it does take effort and a lot of thought. I loved learning the term CPA (continuous partial attention). Now I know what I suffer from...CPA!
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