These past two weeks of in person learning during my graduate course work at MSU have me really considering how people learn. While my own theory of learning is a combination of sociocultural and constructivism, I have to wonder how and if my students learn differently?
Because I knew my face to face learning experience during my graduate coursework at MSU was coming to an end, each day felt like “the last” of something. On Monday and Tuesday it was the last time my classmates and I were going to pick an interesting place to eat lunch in downtown Lansing. Wednesday was our last field trip on campus to visit the Planetarium and the last day in our classroom. And Friday, being the actual last day, came and went so quickly I almost didn’t have time to soak in all of the parting moments. Because of these lasts I tried to make the most of all my learning opportunities - with my professor, with my classmates, and within these creative learning spaces. Am I getting more out of these experiences because I have more of a motivation to learn as is an assumption of Knowles's Theory of Andragogy (or adult learners)? Or do my students have the experiential background to also appreciate these important moments in their learning experiences as well? (Kurt, 2020)
One of the culminating activities of our hybrid learning experience was to attend an Ed Camp . I wanted to sit back and watch what my peers would bring to the table, but soon realized that I needed to be an active participant in my learning experience. I suggested a topic that I am passionate about, creating an Interactive Student Notebook, or ISN, with my students, and it ended up being one of the sessions of the day. Starting the conversation about ISNs during the session was a bit scary, but as other teachers began sharing their knowledge, questions, and ideas on ISNs I began thinking of new things to incorporate into my ISN, it sparked my creativity to consider how to make my ISN better, and overall had me excited to start the school year learning and creating with a new group of students.
Attending this Ed Camp further strengthened my constructivism/sociocultural learning theory as being a powerful combination of ways to learn - as an adult or child. My only hope is that I am able to create these powerful learning experiences for my students within the confines of my context. Creating genuine collaboration between my students is something I can help them learn by setting up group work norms during the first few days of school and giving them reminders throughout the school year. Sparking creativity through different activities is something that I can add to my curriculum by relating activities to math, or not, to inspire my students to think differently. The most challenging aspect is motivating my students by learning in different spaces because of the limitations of time, my district, and because of safety concerns. However in small ways I can do this - have students change groups, work in the hallway, go to the library or cafeteria to change up their perspective or outlook I hope will spark creativity in them as it did for me these past two weeks.
Resources:
Kurt, S. (2020, July 11). Andragogy Theory - Malcolm Knowles. Educational Technology.
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AuthorMarissa McGregor, high school math teacher extraordinaire. I love my husband, daughter, and family dearly. Archives
August 2022
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