30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 12

How do you envision your teaching changing in 5 years?

This is such an exciting question!  This is what gets me jazzed up! I think we are in a VERY exciting time in education!  

I think the main components of change will be...

• a change in grading - moving to standards rather than flat grades
• common standards that drive the skill learning and big picture projects to practice and use the skills
• personalized learning for students and staff - learning that is delivered in a wide variety of methods

I am involved in a pilot project on Blended Learning this year.  I am an observer who will provide support for the classroom teachers - I won't be doing the actual teaching.  As we learn more about Blended Learning - I think it has the potential to bring all these pieces together in one place.  Teachers need to be very well versed in the standards and skills that their students are required to learn.  Those standards are presented to students in a spiraling curriculum in a wide variety of ways - with technology, collaboratively with other students, and independently on their own.  Students demonstrate their learning of these skills through both formative and summative assessment.  I think this is all brilliant!!

But - what gets me even more excited is students learning what they want.  I don't mean complete freedom.  But, if students are given the opportunity to be responsible for their learning and apply it to a project that is authentic I think the sky is the limit!!!  So what this looks like is - teacher requiring specific skills - students demonstrating those skills in the research and presentation of an authentic problem/solution project.  I feel like I need to take a breath after I type all that!  

I have been reading Who Owns the Learning by Alan November. He explains that long ago in an agriculture based society children were needed to run the farms. Their work was directly related to the success or failure of the farm. They had a purpose.  What is our students' purpose today?  Who is working the hardest in the classroom?  Are we more focused on teaching rather than learning - and so more on the teacher than the students?

And then there is assessment. In 5 years - I truly believe that assessments will figure out how to match!  Please oh please!!!!

I am excited about the opportunity of having a part in both the pilot this year and the next 5 years!!