This week, the focus was on utilizing active learning strategies in the middle school classroom. We have learned in the previous weeks that middle school students need to be engaged in their learning, perhaps more so than any other age group. Thus, it makes sense that this week allowed us to zero in on ways to make this a reality in our future classes.
Active learning is a topic I have thought a lot about, especially right before I made the big decision to enroll in Trinity's program and become a licensed teacher. I previously got my bachelor's degree in English and double-majored in History before completing my master's degree in History in 2013. After I was finished, I taught as an adjunct instructor at several two-year colleges around the area. Since I had an M.A. in history, I was considered qualified to teach it. However, I had no idea how to teach students. I only had the experience of how I was taught in college - and that involved a heavy amount of lectures and note-taking, followed by quizzes and tests. Thus, when I started teaching, I used this style. When I got observed by a department chair a few months later, the main critique he gave me was that I needed to lecture less and implement "student-centered learning" into my classes. I had never heard of this term before that moment! I felt naive and embarrassed - how could I have thought that the way I was doing things was the most effective? And more importantly, what did I need to do to make my classes more student-centered? I was given a recommendation for a book, but it felt very overwhelming to try to change everything all at once. I started to put more discussion into my history courses, and had students take the reigns more - small groups taught portions of lessons to the rest of the class, and so on.
However, this experience was one of the moments when I realized that I was never "taught how to teach." I didn't know about any different teaching strategies because I had never taken an education class! I realized that I wanted this knowledge, and also to work with students and be able to mentor them, which I was able to do when I got a part-time job tutoring a few years later. I finally acknowledged that I wanted to go back and get my PEL. Over the course of this program, I have discovered that active learning does not have to be difficult or overwhelming. It is incorporating often simple, straightforward elements into your classroom that will give students more involved in their own learning. It can be as easy as checking in with them to see what is "sticking" in their minds from a lesson and what is not. It is also, on a larger scale, taking your students' multi-faceted ways of learning into account and getting to know them.
Making the Padlet was a great way to look into methods that I can use in the future with my students, whether they are in middle grades or high schoolers. However, I was happy that I was able to find so many different resources for each strategy. I knew Teachers Pay Teachers was helpful, but seeing all of the results that popped up when I was researching things like Muddiest Point or Exit tickets was so encouraging! It showed me that these are being widely embraced by teachers and that making the move to more active learning does not have to be jarring or complicated. There is proof, in the form of all of these shared resources from real educators, that these methods can be used and can be successful.
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