I dedicated time to explore a handful of videos, primarily focused on the edutopia web site. I particularly liked the video on How Building a Car Can Drive Deeper Learning. This video presented a 14-year-old, Kathryn who struggled with math, until she found a relevant use for it. She fell in love with cars and started a hands on project to build her own car. She incorporated the internet to ask questions about car parts and how they fit together. She communicated with a “bigger family” at a site called Pennock’s Fiero Forum, the forum is a comparison to Facebook.
What is the nature of the case? This unique case applies to extended learning because the student did most of the project work outside of the school environment. Kathryn couldn’t wait to go home after school and spend time building her car along with her father How do you know the student is learning? The student appeared enthralled by the experience of Project-Based Learning. She understood the need to convert from the metric system to the standard. How to measure and place parts. Kathryn made time out of her busy schedule to interact with others online and follow instructions from her father to make her project a reality. What is the teacher doing? The teacher plays a non-traditional role by taking a back seat approach and relying on the student to present the questions to him. This approach puts the responsibility back on the student, allowing for the student to take complete ownership of her project. The teacher becomes a coach or mentor, and in the process promotes Kathryn’s critical thinking skills, collaboration, and in turn improves her real-life knowledge. Could you potentially use this lesson? I would definitely consider using this type of lesson in my classroom. In my case, I would probably play a more active role since I work with students with challenging disabilities. My goal is to implement a similar lesson within the confines of our limited space and resources.
1 Comment
Jeff Albertazzi
9/13/2017 06:30:23 pm
Also looking at the videos and reading yours the common theme is the interest and experience is going to drive student engagement and in turn student learning. I agree with this is a piece and tool to engage students. The questions I still have are balancing making sure the standards are covered as well. I am trying the Idea of
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AuthorI am a special ed teacher at Vintage High School. Archives
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