It is evident that passive learning is ineffective. It is my goal to give my students center stage - allowing them to articulate and defend their understanding. I'm a guide.
(SOCS - I: Wells/Hestenes/Swackhammer)
One of the most challenging things for me this past year was making sure the discussions were meaningful and consistently helping students bring the discussion to a "
timely and
satisfying closure."
To this end, the types of questions I ask and the way I ask them are very important. Students need to buy in that my questions are going somewhere, rather than viewing the discussion as a game of 'guess what's in my head.'
Another thing I need to work on is patience. Allow for silence sometimes, as uncomfortable as it may be at first. Students are not used to their new role in the spotlight. I need to give them time to acclimate rather than taking the spotlight back because they are uncomfortable.
I also need to be patience with myself. After trying it for a year, I know that modeling is not easy. Just as with most skills, it takes practice. A lot of practice. I've been told it takes 5 years to become a good teacher. Actually I was told "you will suck for 5 years." This article told me I will suck for 10 years. I need to be ok with that, and diligently work at 'sucking less.'
