Reply
5 06 2010
Scott Thornbury (10:22:07) :
Thanks for the comment Greg – and I envy you your insight into Bach’s fugues! (I actually do read the cover notes, and enjoy straining to identify the complexity!) It’s a great analogy – although perhaps it exaggerates the artistry of lesson design – and I agree that letting the students in on the design decisions is a useful means, both of ‘priming’ them, but also of demonstrating your own professionalism. Would it work, though, for a lesson that adhered to a more student-directed and emergent organisation?
Reply
5 06 2010
Greg (12:23:42) :
Cheers, Scott. For the students I work with in elementary school in Taiwan, the best I can hope for is to allow the timing and arrangement of the elements to vary according to the students’ skills and interests. If they get it, we can move on. If they don’t like an activity, we can substitute another.
Like having a textbook, I don’t see an outline as a straight jacket, more a path with the possibility of a few interesting diversions.
For older students, it might be possible for them to suggest items within a lesson, or at least for some of the segments, or to participate in the planning of a semester’s program.
My concern is to ensure that student interest is balanced against parental, school and curriculum expectations. For example, two of the school’s are that I prepare detailed lesson plans in advance and that I complete the text material.
So, I guess I’m not in a “student-directed or emergent organisation”. If you have thoughts on freeing this up further, or if I’ve misunderstood your meaning, please add to these comments.
5 06 2010
Scott Thornbury (10:22:07) :
Thanks for the comment Greg – and I envy you your insight into Bach’s fugues! (I actually do read the cover notes, and enjoy straining to identify the complexity!) It’s a great analogy – although perhaps it exaggerates the artistry of lesson design – and I agree that letting the students in on the design decisions is a useful means, both of ‘priming’ them, but also of demonstrating your own professionalism. Would it work, though, for a lesson that adhered to a more student-directed and emergent organisation?
Reply
5 06 2010
Greg (12:23:42) :
Cheers, Scott. For the students I work with in elementary school in Taiwan, the best I can hope for is to allow the timing and arrangement of the elements to vary according to the students’ skills and interests. If they get it, we can move on. If they don’t like an activity, we can substitute another.
Like having a textbook, I don’t see an outline as a straight jacket, more a path with the possibility of a few interesting diversions.
For older students, it might be possible for them to suggest items within a lesson, or at least for some of the segments, or to participate in the planning of a semester’s program.
My concern is to ensure that student interest is balanced against parental, school and curriculum expectations. For example, two of the school’s are that I prepare detailed lesson plans in advance and that I complete the text material.
So, I guess I’m not in a “student-directed or emergent organisation”. If you have thoughts on freeing this up further, or if I’ve misunderstood your meaning, please add to these comments.
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