Mary K. Easley - Blog Post #1

The main idea that I took from this TedTalk is that people are vastly different,  and it takes a good bit of self discovery and reflection to really tap into one's true talents and preferences.  With that in mind, in terms of education, it is a teacher's duty to attempt to tap into and to help students of varying personalities find their roles and passions within today's society.  If we want students to grow up and be truly productive, happy, contributing members of society they must have experiences that will allow them to explore the world around them enough to actually find that hidden passion they never knew about before.

In contrast to the "linear", standards-based curriculum that has become "normal" in our educational system, PBL is a way to let students explore real-world, authentic experiences while learning the content that they are supposed to learn.  Not to mention the fact that reflecting about and attempting to solve real-world authentic problems is way more enticing than simply regurgitating information given during an hour long, teacher-led lecture with notes.  PBL is learning through experience.  It is the value of the experience that allows students to uncover the passions and talents that could turn into their dream job. It took 2 years after graduating college before I realized what I actually wanted to do for the rest of my life, and I'm a product of the standards-based, teacher centered educational system.  While it's not proof of anything, I feel that I might have found my passions a bit quicker if I would have had some sort of experience to feel the joy that I get from teaching science.

As a science teacher, I think that it will be a good bit less complicated integrating PBL into my curriculum than other subjects simply because the scientific inquiry process is quite similar in that students must back up all work with reliable evidence and they must solve problems through the experimental process.  To truly integrate PBL in my class I plan to build a unit that relies less on the front-loading of information before practice, and let the practice and discovery be the avenue in which the students find the information.  I will also rely more on teaching how the content ties into real-world problems that will hopefully intrigue the students enough to keep them actively engaged and immersed in the learning process.

From past experiences teaching in a middle school classroom, I feel like my greatest challenge will be learning the best ways to manage successful group cooperation and work while accurately grading each student based on whether or not they have met the unit's goals and whether or not they have truly learned the content that the unit is designed to teach. I have seen patterns in past group project assignments that some students tend to take over the majority of the work while others do the minimal amount of  work possible.  I have been reading about and taking in all the different techniques and plans that might help to curb this pattern.  I think that regular reflections during group work is a great idea, and I like the idea of incorporating a little competitiveness within projects.  Both are just some of the "tricks" that I will probably use.  Also, I can assign roles to group members and allow some students to work alone if they prefer...just to list a few of the many techniques that I have tried, both successfully and unsuccessfully.  I look forward to tackling these challenges as I truly believe that PBL is a great way to impart knowledge and teach students how to explore with a critical eye, and eventually become successful self-teachers.