I personally have made goals for my future students to achieve k-12. The goals that are set are not out of their reach and are easily accomplished when given the right instruction and push to succeed. Two videos that I have viewed, about two different science lessons, seem to have missed some of the goals that I have set for my students. A goal I did not list in the previous post was that the students enjoy the content they are learning. If the students enjoy their learning, they will be more inclined to actually try in the classroom setting. These videos did address this goal. I want to be able to give the students something they can remember and then start to connect learning with fun and enjoyable in their mind. Both videos the students are doing something that they can remember. The first video the students are holding up signs. Now that might not seem very fun however, the students will have a sense of accomplishment for picking the correct sign. Although the students seemed to be engaged in the lesson, the lesson missed my other goals for my students. The students were not asked questions to further their learning and to keep them engaged with what they are doing. Also the subject matter was only being skimmed. The full understanding of what causes certain things in the environment may be lost to the students.
The second video was very entertaining for the students and very memorable. The "experiment" was fun but, the students were not engaged with their own learning. The students simply watched. They were not asked what they think will happen if the Mentos were dropped into the diet coke. After the first explosion, they were not asked what would happen if the teacher were to add more or less Mentos. The children probably will never forget watching the soda shoot straight of the bottle but they could have missed the entire meaning of the lesson because they were not engaged.
The videos and lessons were interesting. However, the aim of the lessons and "experiments" were not aimed completely at the goals I have set for my future students to have. The lesson did not reach the target completely.
You've made some important points. However, I want to push you further by asking, "what might be the problem if kids are enjoying the class, but are not being encouraged to think critically?".
ReplyDeleteOftentimes students start to believe that anything worth doing should be fun. Yet, there are lots of things in life that are not very fun, but that we should still do.