I want to start today's entry by exclaiming what an amazing experience it was to
be teaching at HTHMA. I won't bore with the details of the lesson, but I do want
to discuss the impact this has had on my thoughts of EBL as well as my teaching
practice. The lesson was spent looking at the issue of culture and identity, a
fairly broad subject matter. Students outcome was a first draft of a design for
a CD cover that represented who they were by using symbolic references. After a
little discussion about British culture and driving on the wrong side of the road, students openly discussed examples of existing album covers, in particular Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Big question: How can I change my pedagogy to suit/fit the EBL ethos?
My feelings about teaching at HTHMA reflected my first day at SBL: nervous, anxious etc... however, I had the opportunity to talk to a few students prior to lesson starting. Chris Wakefield explained that the few minutes leading up to the start of a lesson are where most of the relationships are started and built upon. They were really interested in why I was there, what I was going to teach them and what they had to produce. After five minutes I relaxed into the lesson and really thought I was making some strong connections with the students. Questioning was a doddle; using Bloom's taxonomy, I was able to get students to justify answers and often these reflected a complex thought or opinion.
A point of interest for me is the feeling of an unstructured environment; they had the freedom to walk out of class, go to the bathroom, use their phones, eat and drink yet they were all making good progress and had a draft ready within 45 minutes. Despite all the distractions they had completed the target for this lesson. HOW?! I suppose the way to think about this is that students have the freedom to do what they want, to push themselves and also the freedom to fail.
To draw a conclusion to the day, I felt empowered by this experience and engaged with the students in a very different way. The atmosphere of the classroom was really positive. Likewise when working on their tasks in the common learning area (a space where two or more classes mingle), students were still making excellent progress towards meeting minimum requirements.
Takeaway: strength of relationship between teacher and students. The relationships between student and teacher is important to establish. I am starting to realise that EBL isn't all about the projects; its a model of learning around ethos and culture that is developed over time. It is important, in my opinion, that if we are to encourage this culture of learning we do need to have long-term goals. It's not an overnight change, It will take time and consistency across the school.
be teaching at HTHMA. I won't bore with the details of the lesson, but I do want
to discuss the impact this has had on my thoughts of EBL as well as my teaching
practice. The lesson was spent looking at the issue of culture and identity, a
fairly broad subject matter. Students outcome was a first draft of a design for
a CD cover that represented who they were by using symbolic references. After a
little discussion about British culture and driving on the wrong side of the road, students openly discussed examples of existing album covers, in particular Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Big question: How can I change my pedagogy to suit/fit the EBL ethos?
My feelings about teaching at HTHMA reflected my first day at SBL: nervous, anxious etc... however, I had the opportunity to talk to a few students prior to lesson starting. Chris Wakefield explained that the few minutes leading up to the start of a lesson are where most of the relationships are started and built upon. They were really interested in why I was there, what I was going to teach them and what they had to produce. After five minutes I relaxed into the lesson and really thought I was making some strong connections with the students. Questioning was a doddle; using Bloom's taxonomy, I was able to get students to justify answers and often these reflected a complex thought or opinion.
A point of interest for me is the feeling of an unstructured environment; they had the freedom to walk out of class, go to the bathroom, use their phones, eat and drink yet they were all making good progress and had a draft ready within 45 minutes. Despite all the distractions they had completed the target for this lesson. HOW?! I suppose the way to think about this is that students have the freedom to do what they want, to push themselves and also the freedom to fail.
To draw a conclusion to the day, I felt empowered by this experience and engaged with the students in a very different way. The atmosphere of the classroom was really positive. Likewise when working on their tasks in the common learning area (a space where two or more classes mingle), students were still making excellent progress towards meeting minimum requirements.
Takeaway: strength of relationship between teacher and students. The relationships between student and teacher is important to establish. I am starting to realise that EBL isn't all about the projects; its a model of learning around ethos and culture that is developed over time. It is important, in my opinion, that if we are to encourage this culture of learning we do need to have long-term goals. It's not an overnight change, It will take time and consistency across the school.