PG article about area teachers (not PPS) trying the Khan method of having students watch the lecture portion of classes at home and work on problems in class with the assistance of the teacher:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12005/1201265-57-0.stm?cmpid=MOSTEMAILEDBOX
This way students can watch the explanations of lessons as many times as they need to, so that those who need repetition receive it and those who don't can go on to other work. The article describes the kind of thoughtful exploration of new approaches that would be much more welcome than constant opening and closing and reconfiguration of schools and programs.
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This is interesting on many levels- as a student mentioned- it sounds like it will make finals easier to prep for. Parents will know exactly what students are talking about. I forwarded it to pre-service teachers-who will never student teach in PPS due to scripting-- but this is the kind of thing teachers should be discussing- does it help, can it enhance learning. Imagine technology used to aide learning- not an electric workbook. Just hearing that teachers discussed what works in their classroom is far, far from PPS. My young colleagues to be were unsure - but at least it is worth discussing. Universities are now teaching teachers how to teach on-line-- this would be a way to prepare our students-in a modified way- for taking on-line courses in college. Of course, watching an instructor saying a script might not be that enlightenng. This was not costing the districts more money. While we spend millions, do you think their administrators know these teachers are doing their best to teach students?
So instead of NOT doing homework, which is the case with most non PSP/CAS/AP students, NOW, they won't watch the lecture.
And they'll know what to do when they get to class, huh?
Another insane idea by those NOT in the classroom. To anyone contemplating the idea of being an education major, run...don't walk....away.
The teachers described in the article are in the classroom. Sure students don't like homework, but it's a lot easier to watch a lecture alone than to struggle with problems alone. And with lectures as homework students can more reliably budget their time.
Classroom teacher here. I thought it was an interesting article. The college night course is kinda/sorta set up this way but without online materials -- read over a concept on your own, do some exercises, then hash them out in class with me and peers. It works decently, although there are always some students who prefer that I present the concepts first.
Honestly, I have a hard time imagining 75% of my students doing this. I don't teach CAS classes (although I have in the past) but I could see it being an issue among many gifted students as well. For most of my students, work outside of school is not high priority. They have to work. They have to take care of siblings and sometimes parents or grandparents. There is drama, as they say, that gets in the way. Can't imagine this working for me.
Probably there is no one system that works for all teachers and all classes. But, what we have now is not working either, especially in math and science. Recent articles have focused on the sky high attrition rate in STEM college majors. Even here in PPS, by 11th grade the first class at sci tech had only 70 students, and some of them were not part of the original 100. Most likely only about 60% will have lasted the 4 years.
Sorry. I wasn't clear in my earlier post. I teach a university night course (math) in addition to working for PPS. The college course is good for me professionally. It reminds me what can be done with the appropriate amount of effort on the part of the students. It raises my expectations for my high school math students. I tell my HS students that my college students are no smarter than they are, that they can perform just as well if they put forth the effort.
Actually, there are systems that DO work better for kids. Part of the appeal of Khan Academy videos is how straightforward they are. There are many ways of teaching math (and other STEM subjects) that emphasize learning that is orderly, provides small achievable goals marching toward the larger concepts, etc. It provides fast feedback to kids on their performance and insures that they know what they've learned before they move on (and on and on).
Currently the PPS curriculum is a mishmash of hands-on, learn from your peers, "guide on the side" teaching combined with some actual content in such a way that kids don't even know what they're supposed to be learning. Writing the ridiculously worded "objective" for the day on the board does nothing to enlighten them, either. But, heaven help the teacher who doesn't have it up there.
There is little attempt at mastery, little attempt to practice enough with teacher guidance. As long as kids are working in groups (even if they have not a clue what they are supposed to be doing) and not hanging from the ceiling while doing it? That's good. If they still don't know whether to add, subtract, multiply or divide when faced with a word problem, say? Well, it must be that the teacher not follow the curriculum closely enough.
It would work fine for kids whose parents require that they do it. Look at the number of kids who actually hand in homework now. All those kids who don't? What possible reason would they have to BEGIN spending time out of the classroom on learning?
11:03, flipped classes don't seem anything like the experiment in a distant state. It sounds like those kids received one day of live teacher time a week. Under the flipped system they are working with a teacher every day who as described in the article can stop and re-teach anything that hasn't been absorbed.
Maybe opting in to a flipped class should be set up as a reward for past performance. Maybe more innovation is needed. How about all the distance learning opportunities we heard about some 10 years ago? A proven highly-effective teacher in a classroom teaching students in buildings via video. Too expensive. How about giving a teacher a flex schedule and have him/her work evenings and skype with students to get the homework done.
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