fernandareports: Chapter 5: "The big idea - questions."
How can we engage our students to a deep understanding, inquiry and transfer of learning?
According to the UbD template, this can be accomplished through goals that are established in terms of Essential questions. Thinking about my teaching experience, this is absolutely true and meaningful if we want to develop our students'understanding and creative thinking.
Moreover, we as educators, must reflect on the routine teacher- talk that makes us sometimes feel so tired and our students so bored. On the contrary, the big-idea questions can stimulate our students'thought , and deepen their understanding of the concepts, topics, and other issues.
Another reflection is to take aside in some way the pat answers from our students and give relevance to think about important content ideas so that they can understand the key issues of the subject and foster the transfer of ides to other fields.
Nowadays, it is not easy to change our students'minds in response to reflection , curiosity and thought because students love the easy way out in their learning process, so it also requires great care to provoke discussion considering the sustaining of big ideas and the goals of the unit. In this way, questions can become essential due to the clarity of our intentions and expectations for learning activities and assessments.
Equally important is to make use of a mix of questions - topical and overarching - that deals with the deep use of big ideas and not the learned facts. These questions provide the units balance, variety and more effective work adding the students'role more intellectual and active.
you´re right! Is no picnic changing our students minds when they have been educated with a system that provides them everything they need without effort....
ResponderEliminarI agree with you, but we have to try to change the poverty about education in Chile. I always remember a teacher at university who said: "you as teachers will be agentes de cambio". Beautiful phrase, but we have to struggle against a terrible system: Parents, mass media, institutions, etc
ResponderEliminarthat´s an interesting idea! and a big responsability too, what your teacher said, but it would be ideal if we are capable to do it!
ResponderEliminarIn my opinion, we have to start working with the so called 'essential questions' and confirm our beliefs about our students.
ResponderEliminarI really get the idea of teachers as "agentes de cambio". I think I also heard it once but now I really get the meaning... It's a big responsibility as somebody mentioned, but if we don't do it, who will?
ResponderEliminarIn my opinion, it's important to motivate students through interesting topics and activities. And reflecting on English language is not motivating.
ResponderEliminar