Reflection on getting boys to read and a new style of schools



Firstly, I want to thank my fellow educator for this resource. You can see her blog here :
https://andreiasreflectionsasawayoflife.wordpress.com/

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/brochure/meread/meread.pdf

The read is about how to get boys engaged in reading. I noticed that a lot of boys are not reading. One thing I do is let students read whatever they want. If they want to read a magazine during the reading time they can read a magazine. Graphic novels (a.k.a. comics) read away. As long as students are reading, I am happy.

 https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/nyregion/mastery-based-learning-no-grades.html?referer=http%3a%2f%2fm.facebook.com

After reading this article I really love the idea of not forcing kids to move on to other skills before they are ready. One area of concern I had is what to do with the students who are not driven on their own. This article is about students mastering skills before moving on to other skills at their own pace. Grades are not the main focus, mastery of skills is the main focus. As the title suggests, no grades, no failing, no rush. Can you imagine if the pressure was lifted around test taking and students actually understood concepts at their own pace? I find pacing very difficult when, in some class, half your students have individualized learning plans.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rant

After taking some time to digest the fact that there is no history of education class, I have not come to any reasonable conclusion as to why it is not offered. Now that teacher's college is a two year program, universities must be teaching the history of education. I looked at a few schools and …. (hopes up).... Nothing. Even with a two year program there is not one class that focuses on history of education. I must say that I am extremely biased because I love teaching history. When I was in school most of my teachers did not like teaching history as some teachers let the students know their dislike for the subject. I personally love history and I think it is fascinating. What I do know is that even if you do not like a course (as a teachers) you should never let your students know you do not like a course. If one of your students love's course “x” and you say that you dislike course “x”, you can break rapport with that student. Studying history is important to understand why
Read more

Reflections on my personality type.

I took a personality test to see what type of person I am. You can type anywhere online for personality tests. Here is a link one I completed many months ago. https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test My Results and thoughts ESTP The “Doers”/Entrepreneur I could not believe how accurate this personality test was. I believe that understanding my own personality is key to understanding my relationships with others. I am also quite aware that in my life, I use rules and laws as guidelines, not absolutes. Knowing what needs to get done and doing it, is my lifestyle. My opinion about right and wrong are my compass for my morality. In conversations and in athletics everything I do is fast. I like to believe myself as a fun and loving person. One part of the description that made me a little uncomfortable was the fact that my decisions usually do not include other people's feelings. I can honestly say that I have hurt a lot of people from failing to consider their
Read more

My view on teaching and learning

My core principles are teaching from a place of love and understanding. Sure students will misbehave but their job is to determine where the boundaries are. Whenever I enter an interview I usually have points I want to hit that best describe my teaching. The points I want to make are as follows. Firstly, I teach using a backward design for learning. I go to the curriculum document first and determine what I need to teach from the government perspective. Secondly, I read over my class records to determine what additional areas of support I will need to provide. This is called the universal design of learning. I need to factor in all of my students in any lesson I teach. Not some, not most, all students must be accounted for. Thirdly, everything I do in the classroom comes from a place of love. This is called pedagogical love. Some days you will be a teacher, other days a counselor, the next day you could be a mentor. A teacher transforms into many things to best support students. Four
Read more