The readings this week laid a foundation to adolescent literacy. What we know is that our demographics in our classrooms are changing and teachers are not meeting the demands our their students. In the article, "Who are adolescents Today", it points out that we educational researchers has a great amount of research and data on instruction, standardized tests, and students, but no direct information from adolescents themselves. I found that interesting because our goal of our teaching should be all about our students and if we don't have input from students, then how are teachers to know what students think? In our classrooms we promote democracy and independent thinking, but if we don't accept the opinions of our students, then how will we know if students's are truly engaged?
In addition, the article states the experiences that students have with curriculum. "A mere 40% of students complete a hour of school work a week". This did not surprise me because many students don't have the structures at home to do home. Students complain of not being able to find a quiet place to study at home and no one to turn to for help when they get stuck. What interests me would be more research about "flip classrooms" and their affects on adolescents. A flip classroom is where students practice the skills in the classroom, and complete the lecture at home with digital resources, This may be a challenge for disadvantaged students that do not have the ability to connect with the internet or no computers. I believe that teacher could uses this strategy in their classroom, if they keep in mind their students, by promoting agency, identity, and autonomy. I believe that it is the teacher's responsibility to meet their students through these core ideals.
I have had a teacher try the reverse classroom in a math class at my high school. I think it takes a lot of work from the teacher and as you said it is hard to stay on top of all the videos and viewings if you do not have the resources to do so. I think it is a good idea to give the students the attention and assistance they deserve, however, it is difficult for those students who don't have the resources to watch the lectures at home. It all depends on how well the teacher organizes the class.
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ReplyDeleteI also found the fact that the research did not ask adolescents about their ideas ironic. We want to make them read more, but yet do not ask them how we could make that happen? If we ask our students how to make them feel engaged, I am sure one of them will tell the teacher how. The flip classroom idea could work, but has a could of disadvantages. The first is the one you mention, that some kids may not have computers at home. Another, is that it is a lot of work form the teacher to stay on top of it. Giving the students the assistance they need is good, but I think the flip classroom will only work if the teacher really fights to make it work.
ReplyDeleteThe culture of policy makers is problematic. They want to hear buzzwords like "evidence based" or "research based curriculum" but to get lots of data points to get the most fashionable "based" word attached to it they need to do large standardized testing. Having accurate and true open ended evaluations from students are too problematic to make into a graph. I agree it is (currently) up to the teacher to meet their students- to navigate both through the politics of teaching while also trying to get a true assessment of the progress and experiences of the student and adapt.
ReplyDeleteI like that you are thinking about serious issues in the classroom and the research that people are doing on adolescents in school. However, I would have to agree with an above comment that a flip classroom would possibly be too hard to implement, especially in classrooms and schools where a lot of students are struggling. If over half of students are not able to do an hour of homework per week, then to add the extra work of listening to all the lectures at home, may be discouraging and cause students to fall even further behind. I was a student in multiple flipped classrooms and there were many students who simply did not listen to the lectures and were unable to participate in class.
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