Mr. Crosby is a teacher that is a true inspiration to me. I can not express how highly I think of him. This is the type of teach I desire to become. One that cares so deeply about the students and their education that looks beyond the knowledge and/or lack of knowledge they possess when they walk in the classroom. Instead of focusing on that I want to look past it and see just like Brain Crosby does to what I can help to teach them, what they can learn from my classroom, and the practical knowledge they can leave with. Mr. Crosby started with a class that was farther behind than many of us can imagine. A majority of the students did not even know the city in which they lived in.
Mr. Crosby took these students and looked behind the lack of knowledge that they had and taught them in a practical manner. He brought science to them and allowed them to learn in a hands on manner. He brought learning to students in a way that they understood and related. One of the neatest things to me was including his fourth grade student that was at the end of her chemotherapy treatment and could no longer physically attend class. Instead of taking the easy way out and sending her work home through the front office or a sibling, Mr. Crosby held daily Skype sessions to where she was actually in the classroom learning with the students. This is such a wonderful way to not only keep the student engaged and learning, but also is another lesson within itself for the students. This is a great example for the students to see from their teacher.
One of my favorite quotes and something that stood out to me the most in his video, Back to the Future was: "We can't keep racing children through school. It can't be a race." Learning really is not a race. Why not encourage students to take their time learning and learning it the correct way instead of telling students that the temporary grade on a piece of paper or diploma is the most important thing. In the end that piece of paper really means very little if you do not have the knowledge that you needed to have gained. Encourage students to learn, not memorize simply for the test and burp it back to you.
Paul Anderson
Mr. Anderson's blog Bozemanscience, was very neat and interesting. I plan to use his site when I take biology in the fall myself. Mr. Anderson has numerous wonderful resources that not only come in useful to his own students, but to any students that are taking these AP or college level science courses.
Mr. Anderson addresses the blended learning format involving blending mobile, online, and classroom learning together in the classroom. The learning cycle, which is the five "E's" (engage, explore, explain, expand, and evaluate), are also incorporated into his blended learning cycle. He refers to this blended learning cycle as QUIVERS. There are six components to QUIVERS that he uses in this class.
They are:
QU- QUestion
I- Investigation/Inquiry
V- Video
E- Elaboration
R- Review
S- Summary Quiz
This is a learning format that would be great to put to use in any classroom of any grade level and subject. It takes the benefits of using technology in the classroom and the benefits of in person teaching and blends them together to get a wonderful learning cycle. The video was also a great demonstration or practical tips and examples of how to use the blended learning cycle. This is a video and blog that I have bookmarked to go back to when I begin student teaching and teaching in my own classroom. I look forward to putting this learning cycle to use and seeing the results in my students' education.
Hello Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed looking through and reading your blog. I agree we should encourage students to take their time learning instead of racing through education. I love how the teacher was able to include the home study student into the classroom. This shows that every teacher needs to have knowledge of technology in the classroom.