Christi Coomes Blog #5: What I used to think and now I know
In reflecting on my work this semester, I have revised and affirmed several theoretical practices. First, the pedagological theory taught in my Master's of Education program was put into practice through the teaching method of compacting in my academically gifted class. Students were given the choice to compact the curriculum in chapter 5 or remain with traditional instruction. The students were elated to be given to teach themselves through compacting or to have small group instruction (those who remained with traditional teaching). The compacting motived the students to excel and complete the chapter early so they could work on a Genius Hour Project. The students who participated in the compacting maintained their A average. The students who participated in the traditional instruction so improvement from chapter 4 to chapter 5 test grades. For example, one student went from a 74% on chapter 4 to 86% on chapter 5. The Genius Hour project produced very interesting and well thought out projects ranging from linear regressions to the affects of a, h, and k on quadratic functions. I will use compacting in the future with my AG classes.
Sometimes theory and practice result in very differing outcomes. Implementing a PBL has changed my pedagological views on PBL in practice. First, my original plans did not include enough scaffolding for the math concepts. I will have mini lessons in future PBL projects with students in college preparatory classes which reinforce skills needed in the PBL. Also, these students needed more accountability assignments than an AG class of students. I did the PBL with one CP class and traditional teaching with the other CP class. The PBL class did better on the proportion word problems than the other class. Therefore, there is affirmation that PBL is a better teaching method for CP students.
Overall, I have learned much through this process which will help me prepare a PBL for next semester which will address some of the successes and failures in my first attempt at PBL. After F.A.I.L means "first attempt in learning".
Hi Christi,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reflecting on your pbl practices throughout this semester. You gave a comprehensive overview of the different experiences you have worked to provide to your students through your school garden math pbl and your curriculum compacting Genius Hour opportunity. You shared how your pbl pedagogical views have grown throughout the course and you have realized through your implementation the need to provide more strategic scaffolding in the form of skill focused mini-lessons. I appreciate the ways you provided differentiated support to your different levels of students. I was also excited to see the levels of success with both groups (the group that chose curriculum compacting and the group that chose traditional small group). Most of all, I am thankful that this fall experience has been beneficial for both you and your students. Sincerely, Dawn
I'm glad that your compacting went well with your students. I agree that PBL is an ideal way of teaching students, but I find it hard to make every topic in math relatable to students. I want math to be exciting and not just the traditional way of teaching through notes. Good luck with your next PBL unit in the spring.
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