Our GK-12 Fellows keep journals that chronicle what they learn and do. The 2002-2003 cohort asked these questions in their first entries.
Is it important to teach the kids more through assimilation rather than accommodation to make the learning experience less traumatic?
Although assimilation is easier for individuals to process and understand, could accommodation be more advantageous to facilitate critical thinking and true learning?
How will I be able to apply the observations I make in the classroom without creating an unrealistic persona for myself as a teacher?
How am I supposed to truly observe in the classroom, when having me in the room is a little like having the camera in the room? When do I know that the students are really acting like themselves?
How can I know that students are learning when they are know showing obvious signs?
Should the teacher attempt to identify each child's learning habit or style? And if so, then how could the teacher meet the individual learning habits of numerous children? And if not, then is the teacher really facilitating learning?
How do I speak to children without either scaring them, or sounding too nice?
How do I speak about learning and understanding, now that I see the two as very different?
What are techniques that teachers use to make the students uncomfortable with their own knowledge level so that learning can occur?
How can an educator make sure that they are teaching a difficult subject such as the life sciences, and not just training the students for the tests? If the district dictates that the students will be responsible for a certain amount of specific subject matter for the standardized tests, should the teacher attempt to add anything, or just teach what is specified?
09/03/2002