Friday, I tried to have my students record their thoughts on what they had been doing in middle science this past week. I had them brainstorm on what they had been doing in class as we study the growth of plants. One of my students has a speech impediment so I modified the assignment so that student could create an iMovie report instead of creating a podcast. I noticed something very obvious-- they do not have a clue what the learning objectives are for this activity! They are just going through the motions! Some students could sort of tell me what we had been doing. This made me realize that I need to do a better job making sure they know what we are doing and why.
I think I will ask them to write a paragraph, in a journal each day. I need to decide what they need to record in their journal entries. Then next Friday, they will have some ideas to include in their podcast. Basically, it is a writing issue. If they can not write it, they do not know it.
I plan also to include more concept maps for them to use. This may help them organize what they are learning.
Bottomline- trying to get my students to create a short audio clip of what they are learning is not easy. The process seems to offer some challenges that I have to address before I stick a microphone in their face and start asking questions. I have to figure out a way to make them successful.
No comments:
Post a Comment