Before I arrived at Dwight, I wasn't 100% sure what all of the hub-bub was about the IB program. My misconception was that, great, students pay a large sum of money to have the grand question "WHY" posed to them. It didn't add up to me! Now that I've seen the teachers in action and watched the students respond with eager hands and a willingness to learn and explore, I have been converted to their way of life! Let me explain.
When I was in Minnesota, the focus was on the teacher as the head of the classroom, doing an array of leading and demonstrating for his/her students. I would show my fifth graders the distributive property, we would do some examples as a class, they would do a number of problems individually or with their table, and then they'd immediately begin their homework (with a grim look on their faces.) While this is all fine and dandy and my students were learning, they weren't EXCITED to learn. On top of that, I wasn't really pushed to make my lessons "out of this world."
Here at Dwight, the emphasis is on letting students learn by exploring and using discussions with their peers to correct their misunderstandings. Today in math, my third graders were being introduced to division. They were given a pile of objects and they had to find ways to break them up into equal parts as I roamed around the room and watched. Once students found one solution ("I can separate my pile of 15 objects into three equal piles of five.") they were asked to go back and search for more possibilities. The great thing about this is that students are learning WHY division works the way it does instead of simply memorizing their math facts.
Our third grade unit of inquiry is "The Study of Space." On Monday, I gave my students two to three paragraphs about a Sun related topic (the layers of the Sun, sunspots, solar flares, etc...) and their job was to identify key talking points from the information. Today, small groups of three were formed and students taught each other the material, using cooperative learning to listen and ask questions. It was so intriguing to watch and listen in on the students' discussions because they were "solar experts" and were able to answer each others' questions just from reading three paragraphs of information! Instead of reading out of a textbook or watching a space video, students became teachers and used their knowledge and language skills to inform each other and correct their peers' misconceptions. My favorite, most demonstrative conversation from today:
Selma: "I don't understand why a human would turn to gas if it got too close to the Sun. Like, I get that the Sun is hot, but why wouldn't we burn? Why would we just turn to gas?"
Polina: "Because, it's (the sun) fire! Ya know when water is on top of fire and it boils and evaporates? That's what would happen to us. Ya know, because our bodies are made up of so much water. Get it?"
This is such a simple answer, but the fact that Polina thought it through and used critical thinking to come to an answer is something that doesn't always happen in Minnesota schools. "I don't know" becomes a fallback, overused term.
Everything at Dwight is hands on, student centered and lead, guided by their interests and questions, and presented in a challenging fashion. The teachers here have innovative ideas and systems for teaching their material and they force us as student teachers to stretch ourselves and find ways to get our students geared up for the lessons and eager to participate. This experience has been a real eye opener because my lesson planning has shifted from "read your basil reader and complete the corresponding workbook pages" to "teach strategies, have students implement the strategy in independent novels, then DISCUSS with their peers." Everything here is about critical thinking (yes, answering the big WHY question) but doing so in a way that makes students really question why they respond in the fashion that they do.
Although New York is a LONG way from home, I would love to teach here because I know it would challenge me professionally. Being surrounded by these unique and engaging professionals has really expanded my horizons. I look forward to taking what I've learned, even in just these past few weeks, and applying it into my future classroom (no matter where I wind up.)
As always, look forward to more tomorrow.
-Megan
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